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THE THUNDERBOLT 



The Thunderbolt 

An Episode in the History 
Of a Provincial Family 

In Four Acts 



By 
ARTHUR W. PINERO 



All rights reserved under the International Copyright Act. 
Perforjnance jiorbidden and right of representation reserved. 
Application for the right to produce this play may be made 
in care of the publishers. 



BOSTON 

WALTER H. BAKER & CO. 

LONDON 

WILLIAM HEINEMANN 

MCMIX 



LIBRARY of C0IVGRES3 
Two Copies Received 

JAN 21 1809 

Copyrient Entry 
CLASag XXc Nc. 






The Thunderbolt 




COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY 

ARTHUR W. PINERO 

A// rights reserved 



PLEASE READ CAREFULLY 

The acting rights of this play are reserved by the author. 

Performance is strictly forbidden unless his express consent 

has first been obtained, and attention is called to the penalties 

provided by law for any infringefjiehts of his rights, as follows : — 

"Sec. 4966: — Any person publidly performing or representing any 
dramatic or musical composition for which copyright has been obtained, 
without the consent of the proprietor of said dramatic or musical composi- 
tion, or his heirs and assigns, shall be liable for damages therefor, such 
damages in all cases to be assessed at such sum, not less than one hundred 
dollars for the first and fifty dollars for every subsequent performance, as 
to the court shall appear to be just. If the unlawful performance and )-ep- 
resentation be wilful and for profit, such person or persons shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be imprisoned for a period not 
exceeding one year." — U. S. Revised Statutes, Title bo. Chap. 3. 



The Thunderbolt 



THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY 

James Mortimore. 

Ann, his wife. 

Stephen Mortimore. 

Louisa, his wife. 

Thaddeus Mortimore. 

Phyllis, his wife. 

Toyce 1 

r-,.„TT f 'r^^^ Thaddeus Mortimores childreti. 

K^\ RIL j 

Colonel Ponting. 

Rose, his wife, nee Mortimore. 

Helen Thornhill. 

The Rev. George Trist. 

Mr. Vallance, solicitor, of SinglehajJipton. 

Mr. Elkin, solicitor, of Linchpool. 

Mr. Denyer, a house-agent. 

Heath, a man-servant. 

A servant girl at Nelson Villas. 

Two others at ' ' Ivanhoe. 



The scene of the First Act is laid at Lijichpool, a city in 
the Midlands. The rest of the action takes place, a month 
later, in the town of Single hampton. 



The Thunderbolt 



THE FIRST ACT 

The scene represents a large ^ oblong roomy situated on the 
ground jio or and furnished as a library. At the back, 
facing the spectator ^ are three sash windows y slightly re- 
cessed y with Venetian blinds. There is a chair in each 
recess. At the further end of the right-hand wall a 
door opens from the hally the remaining part of the wall 
— that nearer to the audience — beitig occupied by a long 
dwarf bookcase. This bookcase finishes at each end with 
a cupboardy and on the top of each cupboard stands a 
lamp. The keys of the cupboards are in their locks. 

On the left-hand side of the roomy in the middle of the 
wally is a fireplace with a fender-stool before /V, and on 
either side of the fireplace there is a tall bookcase with 
glazed doors. A high-backed armchair faces the fire- 
place at the further end. A smoking-table with the 
usual accessories y a chair y and a settee stand at the nearer 
end of the fireplace, a few feet from the wall. 

Almost in the centre of the room, facing the spectator y there 
is a big knee-hole writing-table with a lamp upon it. 
On the further side of the table is a writing-chair. 
Another chair stands beside the table. 

On the right y near the dwarf-bookcase y there is a circular 
library-table on which are strewn books, newspapers, and 
1 



2 THE THUNDERBOLT 

magazi?ies. Roufid this table a settee and three chairs 
are arranged. 

The furniture and decorations, without exhibiting any 
special refnement of taste, are rich and massive. 

The Venetian blinds are down and the room is in semi- 
darkness. What light there is proceeds from the bright 
sunshine visible through the slats. 

Seated about the room, as if waiting for somebody to arrive, 
are James and Ann Mortimore, Stephen and Louisa, 
Thaddeus and Phyllis, and Colonel Ponting and 
Rose. The ladies are wearing their hats and gloves. 
Everybody is in the sort of black which people hurriedly 
muster while regular mourning is in the makiiig — in the 
case of the Mortimores, the black being added to ap- 
parel of a less sombre kind. All speak in subdued 
voices. 

\_Note : Throughout, ** right'' and " left'' are the spec- 
tators' right and left, not the actor's.^ 

Rose. 
[^A lady of forty fottr, fashionably dressed and coiffured 
and with a suspiciously bloomitig complexion — oti the set- 
tee on the left, famii?ig herself] Oh, the heat! I'm 
stifled. 

Louisa. 
\^0n the right— forty-six , a spare, thin-voiced woman."] 
Mayn't we have a window open ? 

Ann. 
[ Beside the writing-table — a stolid, corpulent woman of 
fifty.] I don't think we ought to have a window open. 

James. 
\^At the writing-table — a burly, thick-set man, a little 



THE THUNDERBOLT 3 

older ihan his wife, with iron-gray hair and beard and a 
crape band 7vund his s/eeve.'\ Phew ! Why not, mother ? 

Ann. 
It isn't usual in a house of mourning — except in the 
room where the 

PONTING. 

[/« the armchair before the fireplace— fifty -five, short, 
stout, apoplectic. '\ Rubbish! [^Dabbing his brow.'] I beg 
your pardon — it's hke the Black Hole of Calcutta. 

Thaddeus. 
\_Rising from the settee on the right, where he is sitting 
with Phyllis— « meek, care-worn man of two-and-forty.'\ 
Shall 1 open one a little way ? 

Stephen. 
\^0n the further side of the library-table— forty-nine , bald, 
stooping, with red rims to his eyes, wearing spectacles^ Do, 
Tad. 

[Thaddeus goes to the window on the right atid 
opetis it. 

Thaddeus. 
\From behind the vejietian blind.] Here's a fly. 

James. 
{Taking out his watch as he rises.] That'll be Crake. 
Half-past eleven. He's in good time. 

Thaddeus. 
{Looking into the street.] It isn't Crake. It's a young 
fellow. 

James. 

Young fellow ? 



4 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
\_Emerging .~\ It's Crake's partner. 

James. 
His partner ? 

Stephen. 
Crake has sent Vallance. 

James. 
What's he done that for? Why hasn't he come him- 
self? This young man doesn't know anything about our 
family. 

Ann. 
He'll know the law, James. 

James. 
Oh, the law's clear enough, mother. 

[After a short silence. Heath, a middle-aged man- 
servant, appears, followed by Vallance. 
Vallance is a young man of about five- a?id- 
t flirty. 

Heath. 
Mr. Vallance. 

James. 
[Advancing to Vallance as Heath retires^ Good- 
morning. 

Vallance. 
Good-morning. [Inquiringly. "l Mr. Mortimore? 

James. 
James Mortimore. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 5 

Vallance. 
Mr. Crake had your telegram yesterday evening. 

James. 
Yes, he answered it, telling us to expect him. 

Vallance. 
He's obliged to go to London on business. He's very 
sorry. He thought I'd better run through. 

James. 
Oh, well — glad to see you. ^^Introducing the others.'] 
My wife. My sister Rose — Mrs. Ponting. My sister-in- 
law, Mrs. Stephen Mortimore. My sister-in-law, Mrs. 
Thaddeus. My brother Stephen. 

Stephen. 
l^Bising.'] Mr. Vallance was pointed out to me at the 
Institute the other night. [Shaking hands with Val- 
lance.] You left by the eight forty-seven ? 

Vallance. 
Yes. I changed at Mirtle-efield. 

James. 
Colonel Ponting — my brother-in-law. [Ponting, who 
has risen, nods to Vallance and joins Rose.] My 
younger brother, Thaddeus. 

Thaddeus. 
\Who has moved away to the left.] How d'ye do ? 

James. 
[Putting Vallance i7iio the chair before the writing- 
table and switching on the light of the lampi] You sit 
yourself down there. [To everybody.] Who's to be 
spokesman ? 



6 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
l^Joifiing \.o\5iSA.'] Oh, you explain matters, Jim. 

[Louisa makes way for Stephen, transferring 
herself to another chair so that her husband 
may be nearer Vallance. 

James. 
[ To Ponting.] Colonel ? 

PONTING. 

[Sitting by RosE.] Certainly ; you do the talking, 
Mortimore. 

James. 

[Sitting, in the middle of the room, astride a chair, 
which he fetches from the window on the right.~\ Well, 
Mr. Vallance, the reason we wired you yesterday — wired 
Mr. Crake, rather — asldng him to meet us here this morn- 
ing, is this. Something has happened here in Linchpool 
which makes it necessary for us to obtain a little legal 
assistance. 

Vallance. < 

Yes? 

James. 
Not that we anticipate legal difficuUies, whichever way 
the affair shapes. At the same time, we consider it ad- 
visable that we should be represented by our own solic- 
itor — a solicitor who has our interests at heart, and 
nobody's interests but ours. [Looking round. A^ Isn't that 
it? 

Stephen. 
We want our interests watched — our interests ex- 
clusively. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 7 

PONTING. 

Watched — that's it. I'm speaking for my wife, of 



course. 



Rose. 



[^With a languid drawl.'] Yes, watched. We should 
Uke our interests watched. 

James. 
[ 7t? Vallance.] These are the facts. I'll start with 
a bit of history. We Mortimores are one of the oldest, 
and, I'm bold enough to say, one of the most respected, 
families in Singlehampton. You're a newcomer to the 
town ; so I'm obliged to tell you things I shouldn't have 
to tell Crake, who's been the family's sohcitor for years. 
Four generations of Mortimores — I'm not counting our 
youngsters, who make a fifth — four generations of Morti- 
mores have been born in Singlehampton, and the ma- 
jority of 'em have earned their daily bread there. 

Vallance. 
Indeed ? 

James. 

Yes, sir, indeed. Now, then. {Pointing to the writing- 
table. ] Writing-paper's in the middle drawer. [Val- 
lance takes a sheet of paper from the draiuer and at'ranges 
it before hi?n.'] My dear father and mother— both passed 
away — had five children, four sons and a daughter. I'm 
the second son ; then comes Stephen ; then Rose — Mrs. 
Colonel Ponting ; then Thaddeus. You see us all round 
you. 

Vallance. 
[Selecting a pen.] Five children, you said? 



8 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
Five. The eldest of us was Ned — Edv/ard 

Stephen. 
Edward Thomas Mortimore. 

James. 
Edward cut himself adrift from Singlehampton six- 
and-twenty years ago. He died at a quarter-past three 
yesterday morning. 

Stephen. 
Up-stairs. 

James. 
We're in his house. 

Stephen. 
We lay him to rest in the cemetery here on Monday. 

Vallance. 
\SympatheticaUy.'\ I was reading in the train, in one 
of the Linchpool papers 

James. 
Oh, they've got it in all their papers. 

Vallance. 
Mr. Mortimore, the brewer? 

James. 
The same. Aye, he was a big man in Linchpool. 

Stephen. 
A very big man. 

James. 
And, what's more, a very wealthy one ; there's no 



THE THUNDERBOLT 9 

doubt about that. Well, we can't find a will, Mr. 
Vallance. 

Vallance. 
Really? 

James. 
To all appearances, my brother's left no will — died 
intestate. 

Vallance. 
Unmarried ? 

James. 
Unmarried ; a bachelor. Now, then, sir — ^just to satisfy 
my good lady — in the event of no will cropping up, what 
becomes of my poor brother's property ? 

Vallance. 
It depends upon what the estate consists of. As much 
of it as is real estate would go to the heir-at-law — in this 
instance, the eldest surviving brother. 

PONTING. 

\^Impatie7iily.'\ Yes, yes; but it's all personal estate — 
personal estate, every bit of it. 

James. 
{To Vallance.] The Colonel's right. It's personal 
estate entirely, so we gather. The Colonel and I were 
pumping Elkin's managing-clerk about it this morning. 

Vallance. 

Elkin? 

James. 

Elkin, Son and TuUis. 



10 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
Mr. Elkin has acted as my poor brother's solicitor for 
the last fifteen years. 

James. 
And he s never made a will for Ned. 

Stephen. 
Nor heard my brother mention the existence of one. 

James. 
ITo Vallance.] Well? In the case of personal 

estate ? 

Vallance. 
In that case, equal division between next-of-kin. 

James. 
That's us — me, and my brothers, and my sister? 

Vallance. 
Yes. 

James. 
\To Ann.] What did I tell you, Ann? [27? ike rest.'] 
What did 1 tell everybody ? 

[Stephen polishes his spectacles, and Ponting 
puHs at his moustache, vigorously. RoSE, 
Ann, and Louisa resettle themselves in their 
seats with great contentment. 

Vallance. 
{^[Vriting.] "Edward"— {looking up] Thomas? 
[James nods.~\ " Thomas — Mortimore " 

James. 
Of 3 Cannon Row and Horton Lane 



THE THUNDERBOLT 11 

Stephen. 
Horton Lane is where the brewery is. 

jAiMES. 

Linchpool, brewer. 

Stephen. 
"Gentleman" is the more correct description. The 
business was converted into a company m nineteen- 
hundred-and-four. 

Louisa. 
Gentleman, ah ! What a gentlemanly man he was ! 

Ann. 

A perfect gentleman in every respect. 

Rose. 
Most gentlemanlike, poor dear thing. 

Ponting. 
Must have been. I never saw him — but must have 
been. 

James. 
[7<? Vallance.] Gentleman, deceased 

Stephen. 
Died, June the twentieth 

James. 
Aged fifty -three. Two years my senior. 

Vallance. 
\lVith due moiirnf Illness^ No older ? [//W//«^.] You 
are James 



12 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
James Henry. •' Ivanhoe," Claybrook Road, and 
Victoria Yard, Singleliampton, builder and contractor. 

Ann. 
My husband is a parish guardian and a rural-district 
councilman. 

James. 
Never mind that, mother. 

Ann. 

Eight years treasurer of the Institute, and one of the 
founders of the Singlehampton and Claybrook Temper- 
ance League. 

Louisa. 
Stephen was one of the founders of the League too — 
weren't you, Stephen? 

James. 
\_To Vallance.] Stephen Philip Mortimore, ii The 
Crescent, and 32 King Street, Singlehampton, printer 
and publisher ; editor and proprietor of our Singlehamp- 
ton Times and Mirror. 

Louisa. 
Author of the History of Singlehampton and its Sur- 
roundings 

Stephen. 
All right, Lou. 

Louisa. 
With Ordnance Map. 

James. 
Rose Emily Rackstraw Pouting 



THE THUNDERBOLT 13 

Rose. 
My mother was a Rackstraw. 

James. 
Wife of Arthur Everard Ponting, West Sussex Regi- 
ment, Colonel, retired, ija Coningsby Place, South 
Belgravia, London. That's the lot. 



Ann. 



No. 



James. 
Oh, there's Tad. [To Vallance.] Thaddeus John 
Mortimore 

Thaddeus. 

[Who is standing, looking on, with his elbows restifig 
up 071 the back of the chair before the fireplace — smiling 
difJidently/\ Don't forget me, Jim. 

James. 
6 Nelson Villas, Singlehampton, professor of music. 
Any further particulars, Mr. Vallance .'' 

Vallance. 
[Finishing writing and leatiing back in his chair.'] 
May I ask, Mr. Mortimore, what terms you and your 
sister and brothers were on with the late Mr. Mortimore ? 

James. 
Terms ? 

Vallance, 
What I mean is, your late brother was a man of more 
than ordinary intelligence ; he must have known who his 
estate would benefit, in the event of his dying intestate. 



14 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
\_With a nod.'] Aye. 

Vallance. 
My point is, was he on such terms with you as to make 
it reasonably probable that he should have desired his 
estate to pass to those who are here? 

James. 
\_Rubbing his beard.] Reasonably probable ? 

Stephen. 
Certainly. 

PONTING. 

In my opinion, certainly. 

James. 
\_Lookmg at the others.] He sent for us when he was 
near his end 

Stephen. 
Showing that old sores were healed — thoroughly healed 
— as far as he was concerned, 

Vallance. 
Old sores ? 

James. 
He wouldn't have done that if he hadn't had a fond- 
ness for his family — eh ? 

Ann. 
Of course not. 

Louisa. 
Of course he wouldn't. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 15 

PONTING. 



Quite so. 



Vallance. 
Then, I take it, there had been — er ? 

Stephen. 
An estrangement. Yes, there had. 

James. 
Oh, I'm not one for keeping anything in the back- 
ground. Up to a day or two before his death, we hadn't 
been on what you'd call terms with my brother for many 
years, Mr. Vallance. 

Stephen. 
Unhappily. 

James. 
De 7noriuis — how's it go ? 

Stephen. 
De mortuis nil ?iisi bonum. 

James. 
Well, plain English is good enough for me. [7?j Val- 
lance.] But I don't attempt to deny it — at one time of 
his life my poor brother Edward was a bit of a scamp, 
sir. 

Stephen. 
A little rackety — a little wild. Young men will be 
young men. 

Ann. 
{Shaking her head.'\ I've a grown-up son myself. 



16 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Louisa. 
\^Inconseque7itly.'\ And there are two sides to every 
question. I always say — don't 1, Stephen ? 

Stephen. 
Yes, yes, yes. 

Louisa. 
There are two sides to every question. 

James. 
[7'^ Vallance.] No, sir, after Edward cleared out of 
Singlehampton, we didn't see him again, any of us, till 
about fifteen years back. Then he came to settle here, 
in this city, and bought Cordingly's brewery. 

Louisa. 
Only forty miles away from his birthplace. 

Stephen. 
Forty-two miles. 

Louisa. 



Stephen. 



That was fate. 

Chance. 

Louisa. 
/don't know the difference between chance and fate. 

Stephen. 
\Irritably.'\ No, you don't, Lou. 

James. 
Then some of us used to knock up against him occa- 
sionally — generally on the line, at Mirtlesfield junction. 
But it was only a nod, or a how-d'ye-do, we got from 



THE THUNDERBOLT 17 

him ; and it never struck us till last Tuesday morning 
that he kept a soft corner in his heart for us all. 



Tuesday — 
First post. 



Vallance. 

Ann. 



James. 
We had a letter from Elkin, telling us that poor Ned 
was seriously ill ; and saying that he was willing to shake 
hands with the principal members of the family, if they 
chose to come through to Linchpool. 

Stephen. 
Thank God we came. 

James. 
Aye, thank God. 

Ann and Louisa. 
Thank God. 

Rose. 
[^Ajffected/y.'] It will always be a sorrow to me that I 
didn't get down till it was too late. I shall never cease 
to reproach myself. 

James. 
\_Indu/i^ent/y.'] Oh, well, you're a woman o' fashion, 
Rose. 

Rose. 
[ With a simper.'] Still, if I had guessed the end was 
as near as it was, I'd have given up my social engage- 
ments without a murmur. \_Appealing to Ponting.] 
Toby ! 



18 THE THUNDERBOLT 

POiNTING. 

Without a murmur — without a murmur ; both of us 
would. 

Vallance. 

\Rising, putting his notes itito his -pocketbook as he 
speaks.'] I think it would perhaps be as well that I should 
meet Air. Elkin. 

Stephen. 
That's the plan. 

James. 
\_Rising.'] Just what I was going to propose. 

Stephen. 
Elkin knows we have communicated with our solicitor. 

James. 
[^Looking at his watch.'] He's gone round to the Safe 
Deposit Company in Lemon Street. 

Stephen. 
His latest idea is that my brother may have rented a 
safe there. 

Ponting. 

{^Who has risen with James.] Preposterous. Never 
heard anything more grotesque. 

James. 
The old gentleman will want to drag the river Linch 
next. 

Ponting. 
As if a man of wealth and position, with safes and 
strong-rooms of his own, would deposit his will in a place 
of that sort. 'Pon my word, it's outrageous of Elkin. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 19 

Stephen. 
It does seem rather extravagant.. 

Rose. 
Absurd. 

Vallance. 
\Coming forward. '\ We must remember that it's the 
duty of all concerned to use every possible means of dis- 
covery. \To James.] Your brother had an office at the 
brewery ? 

JAxMES. 
Elkin and I turned that inside-out yesterday. 

Stephen. 
In the presence of Mr, Holt and Mr. Friswell, two of 
the directors. 

Vallance. 

And his bank ? 

James. 
London City and Midland. Four tin boxes. We've 
been through 'em, 

Stephen. 
The most likely place of deposit, I should have 
thought, was the safe in this room. 

PONTING. 

Exactly, The will would have been there if there had 
been a will nt all. 

[James sivUche^ on the li^^ht of tJie lamp which 
stanch above the cupboard at the further end of 
the d-djarfbookcase. 



20 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
\_Opening the cupboard and revealing a safe.'\ Yes, 
this is where my brother's private papers are. 

Stephen. 
This was his hbrary and sanctum. 

James. 
\_Listemng as he shuts the cupboard door.'] Hallo! 
{Opening the room door a few inches and peering into the 
hall.] J^ere is El kin. \There is a slight general vioveinent 
deflating intense interest and suspense. Ann gets to her 
feet. James closes the door and conies forward a little — 
grimly.'] Well ! Hey ! I wonder whether he's found 
anything in Lemon Street? 

PONTING. 

\_Clutching Rose's shoulder a7id dropping back into his 
chair — under his breath.] Good God ! 

Ann. 
[Staring at her husband.] James ! 

James. 
[Sternly.] Go and sit down, mother. [Ann retreats 
and seats herself beside Rose.] If he has, we ought to feel 
glad ; that's how we ought to feel. 

Stephen. 
[Resentfully.] Of course we ought. That's how we 
shall feel. 

James. 

Poor old Ned ! It's his wishes we've got to consider 

— [returning to the door] his wishes. [Opening the door 

again.] Come in, Mr. Elkin. Wniting for you, sir, [He 

admits Elkin, a gray-haired, elderly man of sixty. Pre- 



THE THUNDERBOLT 21 

senis Vallance.] Mr, Vallance — Crake and Vallance, 
Singlehampton, our solicitors. [Elkin advances and 
shakes hands with Vallance.] Mr, Vallance has just 
run over to see how we're getting On. 

Elkin. 
\To Vallance, genially.'] I don't go often to Single- 
hampton nowadays. I recollect the time, Mr. Vallance, 
when the whole of the south side of the town was meadow- 
land. Would you beheve it — meadow-land ! And where 
they've built the new hospital, old Dicky Dunn, the 
farmer, used to graze his cattle. \_To James, who is 
touching his sleeve.] Eh ? 

James. 
\Rather huskily.] Excuse me. Any luck ? 



Elkin. 



Luck? 



James. 
In Lemon Street. Find anything? 

Elkin. 
[Shaking his head.] No, There is nothing there in 
your brother's name. [Again there is a general move- 
ment, but this time of relief^ It was worth trying. 

James. 
Oh, it was worth trying. 

Stephen. 
[Heartily.] Everything's worth trying. 

Pont INC. 
[Jumpi7ig up.] Everything. Mustn't leave a stone 
unturned. 



22 THE THUNDERBOLT 

\The strain being over. Rose and Ann rise and 
go to the fireplace, where Ponting joins them. 
Thaddeus moves away and seats himself at 
the centre window. 

Elkin. 
{Sitting beside the writing-table.'] This is a puzzling 
state of affairs, Mr. Vallance. 

Vallance. 
Oh, come, Mr. Elkin ! 

Elkin. 

I don't want to appear uncivil to these ladies and 
gentlemen — very puzzling. 

Vallance. 
Scarcely what one would have expected, perhaps ; but 
what is there that's puzzling about it ? 

James. 
{Standing by Elkin.] People have died intestate be- 
fore to-day, Mr. Elkin. 

Stephen. 
It's a common enough occurrence. 

Vallance. 
[71? Elkin.] I understand you acted for the late Mr. 
Mortimore for a great many years ? 

Elkin. 
Ever since he came to Linchpool. 

Vallance. 

His most prosperous years. 

[Elkin assents silently. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 23 

James. 
When he was making money to leave. 

Vallance. 
\_To Elkin.] And the subject of a will was never 
broached between you ? 

Elkin. 
I won't say that. I've thrown out a hint or two at dif- 
ferent limes. 

Vallance. 
Without any response on his part ? 

Elkin. 
Without any practical response, I admit. [James and 
Stephen shrug their shoulders.'\ But he must have em- 
ployed other solicitors previous to my connection with 
him. I can't trace his having done so ; but no com- 
mercial man gets to eight-and-thirty without having 
something to do with us chaps. 

Vallance. 
[Sitting on the settee on the leftJ] Assuming a will of 
long standing, he may have destroyed it, may he not, 
recently ? 

Elkin. 

Recently? 

Vallance. 
Quite recently. Here we have a man at variance with 
his family and dangerously ill. What do we find him 
doing ? We find him summoning his relatives to his 
bedside and becoming reconciled to them 



24 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
Completely reconciled. 

Stephen. 
Completely. 

Elkin. 
[^To Vallance.] At my persuasion. I put pressure 
on him to send for his belongings. 

Vallance. 
Indeed? Granting that, isn't it reasonable to suppose 
that, subsequent to this reconciliation ? 

Elkin. 
Oh, no : he destroyed no document of any description 
after he took to his bed. That I've ascertained. 

Vallance. 
Well, theorizing is of no use, is it ? We have to deal 
with the simple fact, Mr. Elkin. 

James. 
Yes, that's all we have to deal with. 

Stephen. 
The simple fact. 

Elkin. 
No will. 

PONTING. 

[ Who, with the rest, has been following the conversation 
betweeji Elkin and Vallance.] No will. 

Elkin. 
\_After a pause.'] Do you know, Mr. Vallance, there is 
one thing I shouldn't have been unprepared for."* 



THE THUNDERBOLT 25 

Vallance. 



What? 



Elkin. 
A will drawn by another solicitor, behind my back, 
during u\y association with Mr. Mortimore. 

Vallance. 
Behind your back ? 

Elkin. 
He was a most attractive creature — one of the most 
engaging and one of the ablest, I've ever come across ; 
but he was remarkably secretive with me in matters re- 
lating to his private affairs — remarkably secretive. 

Vallance. 
Secretive ? 

Elkin. 
Reserved, if you like. Why, it wasn't till a few days 
before his death — last Saturday — it wasn't till last Satur- 
day that he first spoke to me about this child of his. 

Vallance. 
Child? 

Elkin. 
This young lady we are going to see presently. 

Vallance. 
[^Looking at James ««^ Stephen.] Oh, I — I haven't 
heard anything of her. 

Elkin. 
Bless me, haven't you been told? 



26 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
{^Uncomfortably.'\ We hadn't got as far as that with 
Mr. Vallance. 

Stephen. 
\Clearing his throat.'] Mr. Elkin did not think fit to in- 
form us of her existence till yesterday. 

James. 
\Lookini^ at his watch.'] Twelve o'clockshe's due, isn't 
she? 

Elkin. 
[72? James.] You fixed the hour. [^To Vallance.] 
I wrote to her at the same time that I communicated with 
his brothers. Unfortunately she was away, visiting. 

Stephen. 
She's studying painting at one of these art-schools in 
Paris. 

Elkin. 
She arrived late last night. Mrs. Elkin and I received 
her. Only four-and-twenty. A nice girl. 

Vallance. 
Is the mother hving? 

Elkin. 
No. 

James. 
The mother was a person of the name of Thornhill. 

Stephen. 
Calling herself Thornhill — some woman in London. 
She died when the child was quite small. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 27 

James. 
[^IVith a Jerk of the head towards the safe.'] There's a 
bundle of the mother's letters in the safe. 

Elkin. 
This meeting with the family is my arranging. As mat- 
ters stand, Miss Thornhill is absolutely unprovided for, 
Mr. Vallance. And there was the utmost affection be- 
tween Mr. Mortimore and his daughter — as he acknowl- 
edged her to be — undoubtedly. Now you won't grum- 
ble at me for my use of the word- " puzzling " ? 

Vallance. 
\_Looking round.] I am sure my clients, should the 
responsibility ultimately rest with them, will do what is 
just and fitting with regard to the young lady, 

James. 
More than just — more than just, if it's left to me. 

Stephen. 

We should be only too anxious to behave in a liberal 
manner, Mr. Vallance. 

Louisa. 
We're parents ourselves — all except Colonel and Mrs. 
Ponting. 

Ann. 
My own girl — my Cissy — is nearly four-and-twenty. 

Rose. 
\Seated upon the fender-stool.] I suppose we should 
have to make her an allowance of sorts, shouldn't we? 

James. 
A monthly allowance. 



28 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
Monthly or quarterly. 

PONTING. 

Yes, but this art-school in Paris — you've no conception 
what that kind of fun runs into. 

James. 
Schooling doesn't go on forever, Colonel. 

PONTING. 

But it'll lead to an atelier — a studio — if you're' not 
careful. 

Rose. 
The art-school could be dropped, surely? 

Stephen. 
Perhaps the art-school isn't strictly necessary. 

Rose. 
And she has an address in a most expensive quarter 
of Paris— didn't you say, Jim ? 

James. 
The Colonel says it's a swell locality. 

PONTING. 

Most expensive. The father — if he was her father — 
seems to have squandered money on her. 

Stephen. 
Well, well, we shall see what's to be done. 

PONTING. 

Squandered money on her recklessly. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 29 

James. 
Yes, yes, we'll see, Colonel ; we'll see. 

[Phyllis, who has taken 710 part in what has been 
going on, suddenly rises. She is a woman of 
thirty-five, white-faced and faded, but with de- 
cided traces of beauty. Everybody looks at her 
in surprise. 

Phyllis. 
\_Falteritigly.'\ I — I beg your pardon 

Louisa. 
\Startled7\ Good gracious me, Phyllis! 

Phyllis. 
[Gaining firnuiess as she proceeds.'] I beg your pardon. 
With every respect for Rose and Colonel Ponting, if we 
come into Edward Mortimore's money, we mustn't let it 
make an atom of difference to the child. 

Louisa. 
Really, Phyllis ! 

Stephen. 
[Stiffly.'] My dear Phylhs 

James. 
[Half amused, half contemptuously.] Oh, we mustn't, 
mustn't we, Phyllis? 

Phyllis. 
He was awfully devoted to her in his lifetime, it turns 
out. Colonel Ponting and Rose ought to remember 
that. 

Ponting. 
[ Walking away in tcmbrage to the window on the left, 
followed by 'R.OS'E.] Thank you, Mrs. Thaddeus. 



30 THE THUNDERBOLT 



Thaddeus. 



[Who has risen and come to the writing-table^ Phyl — 
Phyl 

Phyllis. 
[7^ James ^w^'Stephen.] Jim — Stephen — you couldn' t 
stint the girl alter pocketing your brother's money ; you 
couldn't do it! 

Ann. 
James 

James. 
Eh, mother? 

Ann. 
I don't think we need to be taught our duty by 
Phyllis. 

Stephen. 
[^Rising and going over to the fireplace.'\ Frankly, I 
don't think we need. 

Louisa. 
[^Followijig him.'] Before Mr. Elkin and Mr. Vallance ! 

Thaddeus. 
Stephen — Lou — you don't understand Phyl. 

James. , 
It isn't for want of plain speaking, Tad. 

Thaddeus. 
[Sitting at the writing-table. ] No, but listen — -Jim 

James. 
\jfoining those at the fireplace.] Blessed if I've ever 
been spoken to in this style in my life ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 31 

Thaddeus. 
Jim, listen. If we come into Ned's money, we come 
into his debts into the bargain. There are no assets 
without habihties. The girl's a debt — a big debt, as it 
were. Well, what does she cost? Five hundred a year .? 
Six — seven — eight hundred a year? What's it matter? 
What would a thousand a year matter? Whatever Ned 
could afford, we could, amongst us. Why he should 
have neglected to make Miss Thornhill independent is a 
mystery — I'm with you there, Mr. Elkin. Perhaps his 
sending for us, and shaking hands with us as he did, was 
his way of giving her into our charge. Heaven knows 
what was in his mind. But this is certain — if it falls to 
our lot to administer to Ned's estate, we administer, not 
only to the money, but to the girl, and the art-school, 
and her comfortable lodgings, and anything else in 
reason. There's nothing offensive in our saying this. 

Elkin. 
Not in the least. 

Thaddeus. 
\^lVith a deprecating little laugh.'] Ha! We don't 
often put our oar into family discussions, Phyl and I. 
Stephen — {turning in his chair'] Rosie 

James. 

{Looking down on Tnh.Y^'D^vs — grintiing.'] Hallo, Tad ! 
Why, I've always had the credit of being the speaker o' 
the family. You're developing all of a sudden. 

[Heath enters. 

Heath. 
{Looking round the room.] Mrs. Thaddeus Morti- 
more ? 



32 THE THUNDERBOLT 



Thaddeus. 



{^Pointing to Phyllis who is now seated in a chair on 
the rig hi. ^ Here she is. 

Heath. 
[7« a hushed voice.'] Two young ladies from Roper's, 
to tit Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore with her mourning. 

Thaddeus. 
IT^isina-.] They weren't ready for Phylhs at ten o'clock. 
\_Over his shoiclder, as he joins Phyllis at the door.] 
Hope you don't object to their waiting on her here. 

Heath. 
\_To Thaddeus.] On the first floor, sir. 

[Phyllis rt?z<^/ Thaddeus go out. Heath is fol- 
lowitig them. 

Vallance. 

\To Heath, rising.] Er \To Elkin.] What's 

his name? 

Elkin. 
{Calling to Heath, who returns^ Heath 

Vallance. 
\_Going to Heath,] Have you a room where Mr. Elkin 
and I can be alone for a few minutes ? 

Heath. 
There's the dining-room, sir. 

Vallance. 
{Turning to Elkin.] Shall we have a little talk 
together? 

Elkin. 
[Rising.^ By all means. 



THE TUUNDERBOLT 33 

Vallance. 
\_To the others^ Will you excuse us? 

Elkin. 
{Taking Vallance' s arm.'\ Come along. {Passing 



out with \ h.\A.K^Q.^— regretfully .'\ Ah, Heath, the dining- 



.oom 

Heath. 
\_As he disappears, closing the door.'\ Yes, Mr. Elkin ; 
that's over, sir. 

James. 
[ Who has crossed over to the right, to watch the wiih- 
draival of Elkin and Vallance.] What have those two 
got to say to each other on the quiet in such a deuce of a 
hurry ? 

PONTING. 

[Coming forward. '\ My dear good friends, I beg you 
won't think me too presuming 

James. 
{Sourly.] What is it, Colonel? 

PONTING. 

But you mustn't, you really mustn't, allow yourselves 
to be dictated to — bulHed 

James. 
Bullied ? 

PONTING. 

Into doing anything that isn't perfectly agreeable to 
you. 

Stephen. 
You consider we're being bullied, Colonel? 



34 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
If it comes to bullying 

PONTING. 

It has come to bullying, if I'm any judge of bullying. 
First, you have Mr. Elkin, a meddlesome, obstructive 

Stephen. 
\_Siihng at the writing-tab le.'\ Oh, he's obviously an- 
tagonistic to us — obviously. 

PONTING. 

Of course he is. He sniffs a little job of work over 
this Miss Thornhill. It's his policy to cram Miss Thorn- 
hill down our throats. That s his game. 

James. 
\_Between his teeth. '\ By George ! 

PONTING. 

And then you get Mr. Vallance, your own lawyer 

James. 
\Sitti72g in a chair on the right-l Aye, I'm a bit disap- 
pointed with Vallance. 

PONTING. 

Dogmatizing about what is just and \yhat is fitting 

Stephen. 
Hear, hear. Colonel! You don't pay a sohcitor to 
take sides against you. 

James. 
As if we couldn't be trusted to do the fair thing of our 
own accord ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 35 

PONTING. 

The upshot being that Miss Thornhill, supported 
openly by the one, and tacitly by the other, will be 
marching in here and — and 

James. 
Kicking up a rumpus. 

PONTING. 

I shouldn't be surprised. 

Louisa. 
A rumpus ! {Sitting upon the settee on the left.'] She 
wouldn't dare. 

Ann. 
\_Risi)tg.'\ That would be terrible — a rumpus 

Rose. 
[/;/ the middle of the room.'] I shouldn't be surprised 
either. You mustn't expect too much, you know, from 
a girl who's 

Stephen. 
{Interpreting Rose's shrug.] Illegitimate. 

Ann. 
No, I suppose we oughtn't to expect her to be the 
same as our children. 

PONTING. 

And finally, to cap it all, you have your brother Thad- 
deus — your brother 

James. 
Ha, yes ! Tad obliged us with a pretty stiff lecture, 
didn't he ? 



36 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Louisa. 
So did Phyllis. 

Ann. 
\_Seating herself beside Louisa.] It was Phyllis who be- 
gan it. 

Rose. 

\_Swaying herself to and fro upon the back of the chair 
next to the writing-table. '\ Tad's wife ! She's a suitable 
person to be lectured by, I must say. 

Stephen. 
Poor old Tad! He was only trying to excuse her 
rudeness. 

Rose. 
Just fancy ! The two Tads sharing equally with our- 
selves ! 

Stephen. 
It is curious, at first sight. 

Rose. 
Extraordinary. 

Stephen. 
But, naturally, the law makes no distinctions. 

Rose. 
No. It wasthe lady's method of announcing that she's 
as good as we are. 

James. 
Tad and his wife with forty or fifty thousand pound, 
p'r'aps, to play with ! So the world wags. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 37 

Rose. 
Positively maddening. 

Louisa. 
We shall see Phyllis aping us now more than ever. 

Ann. 
And making that boy and girl of hers still more con- 
ceited. 

Louisa. 
They needn't let apartments any longer ; that's a 
mercy. 

Ann. 
We shall be spared that disgrace. 

James. 
Strong language, mother ! 

Stephen. 
Hardly disgrace. You can't call the curate of their 
parish church a lodger in the ordinary sense of the term. 

Louisa. 
Phyllis's girl might make a match of it vi^ith Mr. Trist 
in a couple of years' time. She's fifteen. 

Ann. 

A forward fifteen. 

Rose. 

It's a fairy story. A woman who's brought nothing 
but the worst of luck to Tad from the day he married 
her! 

James. 
The devil's luck. 



38 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
Been his ruin — his ruin professionally — without the 
shadow of a doubt. 

Louisa. 
Such a good-looking fellow he used to be, too. 

Ann. 
Handsome. 

Louisa. 
\_Archly.'] It was Tad I fell in love with, Stephen — not 
with you. 

Stephen. 
And popular. He d have had the conductorship of the 
choral societies but for his mistake ; Rawlinson would 
never have had it. Councillor Pritchard admitted as 
much at a committee-meeting. 

Ponting. 
[Seated upon the settee on the right7\ Butcher — the 
wife's father — wasn't he ? 

Rose. 
Just as bad. Old Burdock kept a grocer's shop at the 
corner of East Street. 

Stephen. 
West Street. 

Rose. 
West Street, was it? She's the common or garder 
over-educated petty-tradesman's daughter. 

James. 
\_Oratorically.'] No, no ; you can't overtduc?iie, Rose. 
You can wrongly educate 



THE THUNDERBOLT 39 

Rose. 

Oh, don't start that, Jim. [^To Ponting.] She was a 
pupil of Tad's. 

Stephen. 
\_Holding up his hatids.'] Marriage — marriage ! 

Louisa. 
Stephen ! 

James. 
If it isn't the right sort o' marriage ! - 

Stephen. 
Poor old Tad ! 

James. 
Rich old Tad to-day, though ! \_Chuck/ing.'] Ha, ha! 

Rose. 

\G lancing at the door.'] Sssh ! 

[Thaddeus returns. The others look down their 
noses or at distant objects. 

Thaddeus. 

\Closing the door and advancing.] I — I hope you're 
not angry with Phyllis. 

Stephen. 
\Resignedly^ Angry? 

Thaddeus. 
Or with me. 

Ann. 
Anger would be out of place in a house of mourning. 



40 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
Women's tongues, Tad ! 

Stephen. 
Yes ; the ladies — they will make mischief. 

Louisa. 
Not every woman, Stephen. 

Thaddeus. 
Phyllis hasn't the slightest desire to make mischief. 
Why on earth should Phyl want to make mischief? 
ISi/iing in the chair in the iniddle of the roo7n.'] She's a 
Httle nervy— a little unstrung ; that's what's the matter 
with Phyllis. 

Louisa. 
There's no cause for her to be specially upset that I 
can think of. 

Ann. 
She didn't know Edward in the old days as we did. 

Thaddeus. 
No, but being with him on Wednesday night, when the 
change came — that's affected her very deeply, poor girl ; 
bowled her over. [77? Rose.] She helped to nurse him. 

Rose. 
l^Indifferent/y.'] One of the nurses cracked up, didn't 
she? 

James. 

The night-nurse. 

Thaddeus. 
{^Nodding.'] Sent word late on Wednesday afternoon 
that she couldn't attend to her duties. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 41 

Stephen. 
The day-nurse knocking off at eight o'clock ! Dreadful! 

Thaddeus. 
There we were, rushing about all over the place — all 
over the place — to find a substitute. 

James. 
And no success. 

Thaddeus. 
\_Rubbing his knees.'] There's where Phyllis came in 
handy ; there's where Phyl came in handy. 

Louisa. 
Phyllis hadn't more than two or three hours of it, while 
Ann and I were resting, when all's said and done. 

Ann. 
Not more than two or three hours alone, at the out- 
side. 

Thaddeus. 
No ; but, as I say, it was during those two or three 
hours that the change set in. It's been a shock to her. 

Louisa. 
The truth is, PhylUs dehghts in making a fuss, Tad. 

Thaddeus. 
Phyl! 

Ann. 
She loves to make a martyr of herself. 

Thaddeus. 
Phyl does ! 



42 THE THUNDERBOLT 



Louisa. 



You delight to make a iiuirtyr of her, then ; perhaps 
that's it. 

Ann. 
I suppose you do it to hide her faults. 

Louisa. 
It would be far more sensible of you, Tad, to strive to 
correct them 

Ann. 
If it's not too late — far more sensible. 

Louisa. 
And teach her a different system of managing her 
home 

Ann. 
And how to bring up her children more in keeping 
with their position 

Louisa. 
With less pride and display. 

Ann. 
They treat their cousms precisely like dirt. 

Louisa. 
Dirt under the foot. 

Ann. 
Why Phyllis can't be satisfied with a cook-general 
passes my comprehension 

Rose. 
\_lVearily.'] Oh, shut up ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 43 

James. 
Steady, mother ! 

Thaddeus. 
[^Looking at t/iem a/L'] Ah, you've never liked Phyllis 
from the beginning, any of you. 

Louisa. 
Never liked her ! 

Thaddeus. 
Never cottoned to her, never appreciated her. Oh, I 
know— old Mr. Burdock's shop! [Simply 7\ Well, Ann ; 
well, Lou ; shop or no shop, there's no better wife — no 
better woman — breathing than Phyl. 

Louisa. 
One may like a person without being blind to short- 
comings. 

Ann. 
Nobody's flawless — nobody. 

Louisa. 
There are two sides to every person as well as to every 
question, I always maintain. 

Thaddeus. 
However, maybe it won't matter so much in the future. 
It hasn't made things easier for us in the past. \_S71apping 
his fingers softly.'] But now 

Stephen. 
\_C«iusiicaily.'\ Henceforth you and your wife will be 
above the critical opinion of others, eh, Tad ? 



44 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
Aye, Tad's come into money now. Mind what you're 
at, mother! Be careful, Lou ! Tad's come into money. 

Thaddeus. 
[/« a quiet voice, but cle7iching his hafids tightly. ~\ My 
God, I hope I have! I'm not a hypocrite, Jim. My 
God, I hope I have ! 

\The door opens and Elkin appears. 

Elkin. 

Miss Thornhill is liere. \lhere is a general rtiovement. 
Thaddeus walks away to the fireplace. James, Ste- 
phen, and PoNTiNG also rise and Rose joins Ponting at 
the library-table. Ann ajid LouiSA shake out their skirts 
formidably, their husbands taking up a position near them. 
Helen Thornhill enters, followed by Vallance, who 
closes the door. Elkin /rf^^'/z/j Helen.] Miss Thornhill. 
[7^ Helen, pointing to the g7-oup on the left.'] These 
gentlemen are the late Mr. Mortimore's brothers. [^Point- 
ing to Rose.] His sister. 

Helen. 
\_A graceful, brilliant-looking girl with perfectly refined 
manners, wearing an elegant traveling-dress — almost in- 
audibly.] Oh, yes. 

Elkin. 

\_lVith a ivave of the hand towards the others.] Mem- 
bers of the family by marriage. 

\She sits, at Elkin' s invitation, in the chair 
beside the writing-table. The attitude of the 
James atid Stephen Mortimores, and of 
the PoNTiNGS, u7idergoes a marked change. 

James. 
\After a pause, advajicing a step or two.] I'm the 
eldest brother. [Awkwardly.] James, I am. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 45 

Stephen. 
\_D rawing aitetition to himself by an tineasy cough. ~\ 
Stephen. 

Ann. 
\_Hu7nbly.'] I'm Mrs. James. 

Louisa. 
[/« the same tone.'] Mrs. Stephen. 

Rose. 
\_Seating herself on the left of the library-table. ] Rose — 
Mrs. Ponting. [6^/<^«(;z«^ ^?/ Ponting.] My husband. 

Thaddeus. 
\J\ioiv standing behind the writing-table^ Thaddeus. 

My wife is up-stairs, trying on her 

\He checks Iwnself and retreats, again sitting at 
the centre window. 

James. 
\Seating himself at the writing-table.'] Tired, I dessay ? 

Helen. 

[ Who has received the various anjwiaicejftents with a 
dignified inclination of the head.] A httle. 

Stephen. 
\_Bringing forward the armchair from the f replaced] 
You weren't in Paris, Mr. Elkin tells us, when his 
letter ? 

Helen. 
N'o ; I was nearly a nine hours' journey from Paris, 
staying with friends at St. Etienne. 



46 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Rose, 
A pity. 

Louisa. 
Great pity. 

Helen. 
Mr. Elkiu's letter was re-posted and reached me on 
Wednesday. I got back to Paris that night. 

Elkin. 
[Seating himself beside herJ] And had a hard day's 
travehng again yesterday. 

Stephen. 
[Sitting in the armchair.~\ She must be worn out. 

Ann. 
Indeed she must. 

Ponting. 
[Sitting by Rose.] Hot weather, too. Most exhausting. 

Elkin. 

[To Helen.] And you were out and about this morn- 
ing with Mrs. Elkin before eight, I heard? 

Helen. 
She brought me round here, 

Elkin. 
[Sympathetic ally. '\ Ah, yes. 

James. 
Round here? [Elkin motions sigtiificantly towards the 
ceiling.'] Oh — aye. [After ajiother pause, to Helen.] 
When did you see him last — alive ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 47 

Helen. 
In April. He spent Easter with me. \_Unobirusively 
opening a little bag which she carries atid taking out a 
handkerchief^^ We always spent our holidays together. 
[^Drying her eyes.] I was to have met him at Rouen on 
the fifteenth of next month ; we were going to Etretat. 

Elkin. 
\_A/ter a further silenced] Er — h'm ! — the principal 
business we are here to discuss is, I presume, the question 
of Miss Thornhill's future. 

HeLen. 
{^Quickly.] Oh, no, please. 

Elkin. 
No? 

Helen. 
If you don't mind, I would rather my future were taken 
for granted, Mr. Elkin, without any discussion. 

Elkin. 
Taken for granted ? 

Helen. 
I am no worse off than thousands of other young 
women who are suddenly thrown upon their own re- 
sources. I'm a great deal better off than many, for there's 
a calling already open to me — art. My prospects don't 
daunt me in the least. 

Elkin. 
No, no ; nobody wants to discourage you 

Helen. 
{^Tnierrupting Elkin.] I confess — I confess I am dis- 
appointed — hurt — that father hasn't made even a slight 



48 THE THUNDERBOLT 

provision for me — not for the money's sake, but because 
— because I meant so much to him, I've always beheved. 
He would hdLve. made me secure if he had hved longer, I 
am convinced. 

Elkin. 

[Soothingly.'] Not improbable ; not improbable. 

Helen. 
But I don't intend to let my mind dwell on that. What 
I do intend to think is that, in leaving me with merely 
my education and the capacity for earning my living, he 
has done more for my happiness — my real happiness — 
than if he had left me every penny he possessed. With 
no incendve to work, I might have drifted by and by into 
an idle, aimless life. I 5//^^//^' have done so. 

Stephen. 
A very rational view to take of it. 

PONTING. 

Admirable ! 

[ 77tere is a nodding of heads a?id a murmur of ap- 
proval from the ladies. 

Elkin. 

Very admirable and praiseworthy. \To the others, 
diplo77iatically.'\ But we are not to conclude that Miss 
Thornhill declines to entertain the idea of some — some 
arrangement which would enable her to embark upon her 
artistic career 

Helen. 
Yes, you are. I don't need assistance, and I couldn't 
accept it. \_Flaring up.'] I will accept nothing that 
hasn't come to me direct from my father — nothing. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 49 

[Softeiiins^.'] But I am none the less grateful to you, dear 
Mr. Elkin — [looking rou?id'] to everybody — for this kind- 
ness. 

Stephen. 
[^With a sigh.'] So be it ; so be it, if it must be so. 

PONTING. 

We don't wish io force assistance upon Miss Thornhill. 

Stephen. 
On the contrary ; we respect her independence of 
character. 

[Elkin shrugs his shoulders at Vallance, who is 
flow seated upon the settee on the right. 

James. 
[Stroking his beard.] Art — art. • You've been studying 
painting, haven't you? 

Helen. 
At Julian's, in the Rue de Berri, for three years — for 
pleasure, I imagined. 

James. 
[G lane i7ig furtively at Ann.] D'ye do oil portraits — 
family groups and so on ? 

Helen. 
I'm not very successful as a colorist. Black and 
white is what I am best at. 

James. 
[Dubiously.] Black and white 

Stephen. 
Is there much demand for that form of art in Paris? 



50 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
Paris? Oh, I shall come to London. 

James. 
London, eh? 

Helen. 
My drawing isn't quite good enough for over there. 
It's only good enough for England. I shall sell my jew- 
ellery and furniture — I'm sharing a flat in the Avenue de 
Messine with an American girl — and that will carry me 
along excellently till I'm fairly started. Oh, I shall do 
very well. 

Rose. 
I live in London. My house will be somewhere for 
you to drop into, whenever you feel inchned. 

Helen. 
Thank you. 

PONTING. 

{^Pulling at his moustache.'] Often as you like — often as 
you like 

Rose. 
\Loftily.'\ As I am in "society," as they call it, that 
will be nice for you. 

James. 
\lo Ann.] Now, then, mother, don't you be behind- 
hand 

Ann. 
I'm sure I shall be very pleased if Miss Thornton 

A Murmur. 
Thornhill 



THE THUNDERBOLT 51 

Ann. 
If she'll pay us a visit. We're homely people, but she 
and Cissy could play tennis all day long. 

Louisa. 

If she does come to Singlehampton, she mustn't go 

away without staying a day or two in the Crescent. [77? 

Helen,] Do you play chess, dear.? [U.'E.l^i^ shakes her 

head.'] My husband will teach you — won't you, Stephen ? 

Stephen. 
Honored. 

Thaddeus. 
[^IV/to has risen atid come forward.'] I'm sorry my wife 
isn't here. We should be grieved if Miss Thornhill left 
us out in the cold. 

Helen. 
\Looking at him with i?iter-est.] You are father's mu- 
sical brother, aren't you? 

Thaddeus. 
Yes— Tad. 

Helen. 
[With a faint S7nile.] I promise not to leave you out 
in the cold. \^To everybody^ I can only repeat, I am most 
grateful, \To Elkin, about to rise.] Mrs. Elkin is wait- 
ing for me, to take me to the dressmaker 

Elkin. 
\^Detaining her.] One moment — one moment. \To the 
others?^ Gentlemen, Mr. Vallance and I have had our 
little talk and we agree that the proper course to pursue 
in the matter of the late Mr. Mortimore's estate is to 
proceed at once to insert an advertisement in the public 
journals. 



52 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
An advertisement ? 

Elkin. 
With the object of obtaining information respecting any 
will wliicli he may have made at any time. 

James. 
[_AJter apaiise.'\ Oh — very good. 

Stephen. 
[^Cold/y.'] Does Mr. Vallance really advise that this is 
the proper course ? 

[Vallance rises and Thaddeus again retires. 

Vallance. 
\Assentingly r\ In the peculiar circumstances of the 
case. 

Elkin. 
We propose also to go a step further. We propose to 
circularize. 

James. 
Circularize ? 

Ponting. 
\_DisiHrbed.'] What the dev— what's that ? 

Elkin. 
We propose to address a circular to every solicitor in 
the law-list asking for such information. 

Helen. 
[To Elkin.] Is this necessary ? 

Elkin. 
Mr. Vallance will tell us 



THE THUNDERBOLT 53 

Vallance. 
It comes under the head of taking all reasonable meas- 
ures to find a will. 

Helen. 
[^Looking round.'] I — I sincerely hope that no one will 
think that it is on my behalf that Mr. Elkin 

Elkin. 
{Checkvig her.] My dear, these are formal, and ami- 
cable, proceedings, to which everybody, we suggest, 
should be a party. 

Vallance. 
Everybody. 

Elkin. 
\_Invitmgly .] Everybody. 

James. 

^Breaking a chilly silejice.] All right. Go ahead, Mr. 
Elkin. [r^ Stephen.] We're wilhng ? 

Stephen. 
Why not ; why not ? Rose ? 

Rose. 
{Hastily^ Oh, certainly. 

Vallance. 
\To James.] I have your authority, Mr. Mortimore, 
for acting with Mr. Elkin in this matter? 

James. 
You have, sir. 



54 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin, 
\To Vallance, rising.'] Will you come round to my 
office with me ? 

[Helen rises with Elkin, whereupon the other 
men get to their feet. Ann and Louisa also 
rise as Helen comes to them and offers her 
hand. 

Ann. 
[Shaking hands.'] We're at the Grand Hotel 

Louisa. 
\_Shaking hands.] So am I and my husband. 

Helen. 
I'll call, if I may. 

\_She shakes hands with Stephen and ] awes and 
goes to Rose. 

Rose. 
[Rising to shake hands with her.] We're at the Grand 
too. Colonel Ponting and 1 would be delighted 

PONTING. 

Delighted. 

[Helen merely bows to Ponting ; then she shakes 
hands zuith Thaddeus and passes out into the 
hall. 

Elkin. 

[Who has opened the door for Helen — to everybody ^ 
genially,] Good-day ; good-day. 

James and Stephen. 
Good-day, Mr. Elkin. Good-day. 

[Elkin y^//^w^ Helen. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 55 

Vallance, 
\_Al the door— to James and Stephen.] Where can I 
see you later? 

James. 
The Grand. Food at half-past one. 

Vallance. 
Thank you very much. 

\He bows to the ladies and withdraws, closing the 
door after him. 

PONTING. 

{^Pacing the room i?idignantly.'] I wouldn't give the 
fellow so much as a dry biscuit ! 

[There is a general break up, Ann and LouiSA 
Joining Rose on the right. 

James. 
[Pacifically.'] Oh, there's no occasion to upset your- 
self, Colonel. 

PONTING. 

[On the left.'] I wouldn't! I wouldn't! He's against 
us on every point. 

James. 
Let 'em advertise, if it amuses 'em. [In an outburst.] 
Let 'em advertise ajid circularize till they're blue in the 
face. 

Rose. 
[ With a shrill laugh.] Jim ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! 

Ann and Louisa. 
[Solemnly.] Hus— s— sh ! 



56 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[^Dropping to a whisper.'] Oh, I — I forgot. 

Stephen. 
Yes, yes, yes ; it's nothing more than a lawyer's trick, 
to swell their bill of costs. 

James. 

Of course it isn't ; of course it isn't. [^Passing his hand 
under his beard.] 1 want some air, mother. Get out o' 
this. 

Ann. 
\Fastening her ?Jiantle.'] You've an appointment at the 
tailor's, remember. 

Stephen. 
[Looking at his watch.] So have I. 

James. 
Are you coming. Colonel? {Finditig himself in the cen- 
tre of a group— with a chaiige of manner.] 1 say: What 
a beautiful girl, this girl of Ned's ! 

Stephen. 
Exceedingly. 

Ponting. 
[Producing his cigarette-case.] Charming young woman. 

Ann ajid Louisa. 
Lovely. A lovely girl. 

Rose. 
Quite presentable. 

James. 
And she doesn't ask a shilling of us — not a bob. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 57 

Stephen. 
She impressed me enormously. 

PONTING. 

\_An unlighied cigarette in his mouthy Charming ; 
charming. 

James. 
Ned ought to have left her a bit ; he ought to have left 
her a bit. \_Resolutely^ Mother — we'll have her down 
home. 

Stephen. 

We must tell some fib or other as to who she is. Yes, 
we'll show her a little hospitality. 

PONTING. 

And Rose — in London. That'll make it up to her. 

Rose. 
Yes, that'll make it up to her. 

[77/<f ladies ?nove into the hall ; the me7i follow. 

James. 
[/;/ the doorway — to Thaddeus, who is now seated at 
the writing-table.'] Tad, I'll stand you and your wife a 
good lunch. One-thirty. 

[Thaddeus nods acceptance and James goes after 
the others. Thaddeus rises, and, looking 
through the blind of the 7niddle wi?idow, watches 
them depart. Presently Phyllis appears, put- 
ting on her gloves. 

Phyllis. 
\At the door, drawing a breath of relief] They've 
gone. 



58 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
[Turning.'] Is that you, Phyl ? 

Phyllis. 
[Coming further into the room.'] I've been waiting on 
the landing. 

Thaddeus. 
Why didn't you come back, dear? You've missed 
Miss Thornhill. 

Phyllis. 
[ Walking aioay to the left, working at the fingers of a 
glove.] Yes, I — I know. 

Thaddeus. 
The very person we were all here to meet. 

Phyllis. 
I — I came over nervous. [Eagerly.] What is she like ? 

Thaddeus. 
Such an aristocratic-looking girl. 

Phyllis. 
Is she — is she ? 

Thaddeus. 
I'll tell you all about her by and by. [Pushing the door 
to and comi7tg to Phyllis, anxiously.] What do you think 
they're going to do now, Phyl? 

Phyllis. 
Who? 

Thaddeus. 
The lawyers. They're going to advertise. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 59 

Phyllis. 



Advertise ? 



Thaddeus. 
In the papers — to try to discover a vi^ill. 

Phyllis. 
I — I suppose that's a mere matter of form ? 

Thaddeus. 
Elkin and Vallance say so. According to Stephen, 
it's simply a lavi^yer's dodge to run up costs. \_Brighten- 
ing.'\ Anyhow^, we mustn't complain, where a big estate 
is involved 

Phyllis. 
Is it — such a — big estate ? 

Thaddeus. 

Guess. 

Phyllis. 

I can't. 

Thaddeus. 
\Coyning closer to her.'] I heard Elkin' s managing-clerk 
tell Jim and the Colonel this morning that poor Ned may 
have died worth anything between a hundred and fifty 
and two hundred thousand pounds. 

Phyllis. 
[^Faintly.'] Two hundred thousand ! 

Thaddeus. 
Yes. 



60 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 

Oh, Tad ! 

[^She sits, on the settee on the left, leaning her head 
icpon her hands. 

Thaddeus. 
Splitting the difference, and allowing for death duties, 
our share would be close upon forty thousand. To be on 
the safe side, put it at thirty-nine thousand. Thirty-nine 
thousand pounds ! \Moving about the room excitedly.^ 
I've been reckoning. Invest that at four per cent. — one 
is justified in calculating upon a four per cent, basis— in- 
vest thirty-nine thousand at four per cent., and there you 
have an income of over fifteen hundred a year. Fifteen 
hundred a year ! [^Returning to her.] When we die, 
seven hundred and fifty a year for Joyce, seven hundred 
and fifty for Cyril ! [She rises quickly and clijigs to him, 
burying her head ifpon his shoulder and clutching at the 
lapel of his coat.'\ Poor old lady! \_Putting his arms 
round her.'] Poor old lady! You've gone through such 
a lot, haven't you ? 

Phyllis. 
[Sobbing.] We both have. 

Thaddeus. 
Sixteen years of it. 

Phyllis. 
Sixteen years. 

Thaddeus. 
Of struggle — struggle and failure. 

Phyllis. 
Failure brought upon you by your wife — by me. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 61 

Thaddeus. 
Nonsense — nonsense 

Phyllis. 
You always call it nonsense ; you know it's true. If 
you hadn't married me — if you'd married a girl of better 
family — you wouldn't have lost caste in the town 

Thaddeus. 
Hush, hush ! Don't cry, Phyl ; don't cry, old lady. 

Phyllis. 
You'd have had the choral societies, and the High 
School, and the organ at All Saints ; you'd have been at 
the top of the tree long ago. You know you would ! 

Thaddeus. 

{^Rallying her.~\ And if you hadn't married me, you 

might have captivated a gay young officer at Claybrook 

and got to London eventually. Rose did it, and you 

might have done it. So that makes us quits. Don't cry. 

Phyllis. 
\_Gradually regaining her co7npositre.'] There was a 
young fellow at the barracks who was after me. 

Thaddeus. 
[^Nodding.'] You were prettier than Rose, a smarter 
girl altogether. 

Phyllis. 
\_Drying her eyes.'] I'll be smart again now, dear. I'm 
only thirty -five. What's thirty-five ! 

Thaddeus. 
The children won't swallow up everything now, will 
they ? 



62 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 
No ; but Joyce shall look sweeter and daintier than 
ever, though. 

Thaddeus. 
Cyril shall have a first-class, public-school education ; 
that I'm determined upon. There's Rugby — Rugby's 
the nearest — or Malvern 

Phyllis. 
\^With a catch in her breath.'\ Oh, but — Tad — u'e'U 
leave Singlehampton, won't we.'' 

Thaddeus. 
Permanently ? 

Phyllis. 
Yes — yes 

Thaddeus. 
Won't that be rather a mistake? 

Phyllis. 
A mistake ! 

Thaddeus. 
Just as we're able to hold up our heads in the town. 

Phyllis. 
We should never be able to hold up our heads in 
Singlehampton. If we were clothed in gold, we should 
still be lepers underneath ; the curse would still rest on 
us. 

Thaddeus. 
[Bewiidered.'] But where — where shall we ? 



TUE THUNDERBOLT 63 

Phyllis. 
I don't care — anywhere. \_Passionateiy.'\ Anywhere 
where I'm not sneered at for bringing up my children 
decently, and for making my home more tasteful than 
my neighbors' ; anywhere where it isn't known that 
I'm the daughter of a small shopkeeper — the daughter 
of " old Burdock of West Street"! {^Implormgly .'\ Oh, 
Tad ! 

Thaddeus. 

You're right. Nothing is ever forgiven you in the 
place you're born in. We'll clear out. 

Phyllis. 
[Slipping her arm through his.~\ When — when will you 
get me away ? 

Thaddeus. 

Directly, directly ; as soon as the lawyers 

\_He pauses, looking at her blankly. 

Phyllis. 
[Frightened. 1 What's the matter? 

Thaddeus. 
We — we're talking as if — as if Ned's money is already 
»urs ! 

Phyllis. 
[ Withdrawing her ari7i — steadily. '\ It will be. 

Thaddeus. 
Will it, do you think ? 

Phyllis. 
[ With an expressionless face."] I prophesy — it will be. 
[Heath enters and, seeing Thaddeus and 
Phyllis, draws back. 



64 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Heath. 
I'm sorry, sir. I thought the room was empty. 

Thaddeus. 
We're going. {^As he and Phyllis pass out into the 
hail.'] Don't come to the door. 

Heath. 

Thank you, sir. 

[Heath quietly and methodically replaces the 
chair at the zvindozu on the right. Then, 
after a last look round, he switches off the 
lights a7id leaves the room again in gloom. 



END OF THE FIRST ACT 



THE SECOND ACT 

The scene represents the drawtng-room of a modern ^ cheaply- 
built villa. In the wall at the back are two windows. 
One is a bay-window provided with a window-seat ; the 
other y the window on the right y opens to the ground into 
a small garden . At the bottom of the garden a paling 
runs from left to rights and in the paling there is a 
gate which gives access to a narrow lane. Beyond are 
the gardens and backs of other houses. 

The fireplace is on the right of the room, the door on the 
left. A grand pianoforte^ with Its head towards the 
windows, and a music-stool occupy the middle of the 
room. On the right of the music-stool there is an arm- 
chair, and against the piano, facing the fireplace, there 
is a settee. Another settee faces the audience at the 
further end of the fireplace, and on the nearer side, 
opposite this settee, is an armchair. Also on the right 
hand, but nearer to the spectator, there is a round table. 
An ottoman, opposing the settee by the piano, stands close 
to the table. 

At the end of the piano there is a small table with an arm- 
chair on its right and left, and on the extreme left of 
the room stands another armchair with a still smaller 
table beside it. On the left of the bay-window there is 
a writing-table, and in front of the writing-table, but 
turned to the window, a chair. Other articles of fur- 
niture fill spaces against the walls. 

There is a mirror over the fireplace and a clock on the 
65 



66 THE THUNDERBOLT 

mantel-shelf, and lying upon the round table are a hat 
and a pair of gloves belonging to Helen. Some flowers 
in pots hide the empty grate. 

The room and everything in the room are eloquent of nar- 
row means, if not of actual poverty. But the way in 
which the cheap furniture is dressed up, and the manner 
of its arrangement about the room, give evidence of taste 
and refinement. 

The garden is full of the bright sunshine of a fine July 
afternoon. 

Thaddeus is at the piano accompanying a sentimental ballad 
which Trist, standing beside him, is singing. Phyllis, 
looking more haggard than when last seen, is on the 
settee by the fireplace. Her hands lie idly upon some 
needlework in her lap and she is in deep thought. 
Helen, engaged in making a sketch of Joyce and 
Cyril, who are facing her, is sitting in the chair on 
the right of the table at the end of the piano. A 
drawing-block is on her knees and a box of crayons on 
the table at her elbow. Helen and the Thaddeus 
MoRTiMORES are dressed in mourning, but not oppress- 
ively so. 

Thaddeus. 
[ Taking his hands from the key-hoard— to Trist.] No, 
no. Fill your lungs, man, fill your lungs. 

[Phyllis, roused by the break in the ?nusic, picks 
up her work. 

Trist. 
\^A big, healthy -looking, curly-headed young fellow in 
somewhat shabby clerical clothes?^ I ' m afraid it' s no good , 
my dear chap. The fact is, air will not keep in my 
lungs. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 67 

Thaddeus. 
\Siarting afresh with the symphony.']^ Once more 

Helen, 
\To the children, softly.'] Do you want a rest ? 

Cyril. 
[^A handsome boy offourteett, standing close to his sister.~\ 
No, thanks. 

Joyce. 
\_In the chair on the extreme left — a slim, serioii^ child, 
a year older than Cyril.] Oh, no ; don't give us a rest. 
\As the symphony ends, the door opens a little way 
a7id ]amks pops his head iti. 

James. 
Hallo ! 

Thaddeus. 
Hallo, Jim ! 

[James enters, followed by Stephen ; both with 
an air of bustle and selfimportatice. They also 
are in mourning, are gloved, and are wearing 
their hats which they rerjiove on entering. 

Stephen. 
May we come in ? 

James. 
Good -afternoon, Mr. Trist. 

Stephen. 
How do you do, Mr. Trist ? 

Trist. 
[7f7 James and Stephen.] How are you ; how are 
you .-* 



68 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[77? the children, kissing ]OYQ¥..'\ Well, kids! {^Shak- 
ing hands with Helen.] Well, my dear ! {Crossing to 
Phyllis, w//^m<?^.] Don't get up, Phyllis. What'sthis? 
You're not very bobbish, I hear. 

Phyllis. 
\_Nervously.'\ It's nothing. 

Thaddeus. 
\Tidying his music.'] She's sleeping badly just now, 
poor ol^ lady. 

Stephen. 
[ IVho has greeted Helen and the childreti — to Phyllis.] 
Oh, Phylhs, Louisa has discovered a wonderful cure for 
sleeplessness at the herbalist's in Crown Street. A few 
dried leaves merely. You strew them under the bed and 
the effect is magical. 

James. 
Glass of warm milk's my remedy 

Stephen. 
Eighteen-pence an ounce, it costs. 

James. 
Not that sleeplessness bothers me. 

Phyllis. 
[Sitting on the ottoman and reswjtittg her work — to 
Stephen.] Thank you for telling me about it. 

James. 
[To Helen.] Making quite a long stay here. 

Helen. 
\_SmiHng7[ Am I not? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 69 

Stephen. 
You and Phyllis, Tad, are more honored than we were 
in the Crescent. 

James. 
Or we were at " Ivanhoe." She was only a couple o' 
nights with us. 

Stephen. 
Less with us. She arrived one morning and left the 
next. 

James. 
\_To Helen.] Been in Nelson Villas over a week, 
haven't you ? 

Helen. 
[ Touching her drawing.'] Is it more than a week .'* 

James. 
\_Looking at Helen's drawing.'] Taking the young- 
sters' portraits, too. 

Stephen. 
[^Aiso looking at the drawing.'] H'm ! I suppose chil- 
dren are difficult subjects. 

Trist. 
\_Moving towards the door — to Helen.] Miss Thorn- 
hill, don't forget your engagement. 

Helen. 
\To Joyce ana Cyril.] Mr. Trist is going to treat us 
to the flower-show by and by. 

Cyril. 
Good man ! 



70 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Joyce. 
Oh, Mr. Trist! 

Stephen. 
\_To Trist.] Not driving you away, I hope ? 

Trist. 
[At the door.'] No, no ; I've some work to do. 

\_He withdraws. Stephen puts his hat on the top 
of the piano. 

James. 
[After watching the door close.] Decent sort o' young 
man, that; nothing of the lodger about him. 

Stephen. 
I'v^e always said so. [To Thaddeus, lowering his 
voice.] Mr. Trist knows how — er — h'm — poor Edward 
left his affairs .'' 

Thaddeus. 
Everybody does ; it's all over the town. 

Stephen. 
[Resignedly^ Yes ; impossible to keep it to ourselves. 

James. 
Thanks to their precious advertisement. [To Joyce 
and Cyril, loudly.] Now, then, children ; be off with 
you ! I want to talk to your father and mother. 

Joyce. 
[To Helen.] Will you excuse us? 

Cyril. 
Awfully sorry, Helen, 



THE THUNDERBOLT 71 

[The children pass through the open window into 
the garden and disappear. Helen rises and, 
having laid her drawing-block aside, is follow- 
ing them. 

James. 
[To Helen.] Not you, my dear. You're welcome to 
hear our business. 

Helen. 
Oh, no ; you mustn't let me intrude. 

Stephen. 
I think Helen oicght X.o hear it. [W-eajl^ pauses, stand- 
ing by the table on the right.'] I think she ought to be 
made aware of what's going on. 

James. 
Tad 

Thaddeus. 
[Coming forward.l Eh? 

James. 
Thq^ meeting's to take place this afternoon. 

[Phyllis looks up from her ivork suddenly, with 
parted lips. 

Thaddeus. 
This afternoon ? 

Stephen. 
At four o'clock. 

Thaddeus. 
[Glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece.'] It's past 
three now. 



72 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
\Placing his hat on the table at the end of the piano and 
sitting at the left of the table. '\ It's been fixed up at last 
rather in a hurry. 

Stephen. 
[Sitting in the chair on the extreme left.'] We didn't 
get Elkin's letter, telling us he was coming through, till 
this morning. 

Thaddeus. 
You might have notified us earher, though, one of you. 
Just like you fellows ! 

Stephen. 
[Waving his arms.'] On the day I go to press I've 
quite enough to remember. 

James. 
[ To Thaddeus, roughly.] It's your holiday -time ; what 
have you got to do? An hour's notice is as good as a 
week's. 

Stephen. 
[To Helen.] This is a meeting of the family, Helen, 
to be held at my brother's house, for the purpose of— 
er ' 

Helen. 
[Advancing a little.] Winding matters up? 

James. 
For the purpose of receiving Elkin and Vallance's 
report. 

Helen. 
[Keenly.] And to ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 73 

James. 
And to decide upon the administration of the estate on 
behalf of the next-of-kin. 

Helen. 
In my words — wind matters up. \_Wiih an appearance 
of cheerfuhiess.'] Which means an end to a month's sus- 
pense, doesn't it ? 

Thaddeus. 
[Apologetically.'] A not very satisfactory end to yours. 

Helen. 
To mine? \_Wilh an effort.] Oh, I — I've suffered no 
suspense, Mr. Tad. Mr. Elkin has kept me informed of 
the result of the advertising and the circularizing from 
the beginning. 

Thaddeus. 
But there has been no result. 

Helen. 
No result h the result. 

Stephen. 
Exactly. 

\_During the following talk, Helen moves away 
and seats herself in the chair by the head of the 
piano. Phyllis has resiwied her work again, 
bending over it so that her face is abnost hidden. 

Thaddeus. 
\To James rt«<f Stephen.] Will Rose and the Colonel 
be down ? 

James. 
We're on our way to the station to meet 'em. 



74 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
\_Biltcrlv.~] Ha ! Will they be down ? 

Thaddeus. 
You didn't overlook theju, evidently. 

James. 
\_lVitk a growL~\ No ; the gallant Colonel doesn't give 
us much chance of overlooking hifn. 

Stephen. 
Colonel Ponting might be the only person interested, 
judging by the tone he adopts. 

James. 
A nice life he's been leading us lately. 

Stephen. 
Ell<in and Vallance are sick of him. 

James. 
Hasn't two penny pieces to clink together ; that's the 
size of it. 

Stephen. 
A man may be hard up and yet behave with dignity. 

James. 
I expect the decorators are asking for a bit on the nail. 

Thaddeus. 
{Sitting on the right of the table at the end of the piano. '^ 
Decorators? 

Stephen. 
[Tb Thaddeus.] Haven't you heard ? 

Thaddeus. 
No. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 75 

Stephen. 
The magnificent house they've taken in Carlos 
Place ? 

James. 
Close to Berkeley Square. 

Stephen. 
[^Correcting ] AUKS s projiunciation.'] Bar^eley Square. 

James. 
Stables and motor-garridge at the back. 

Stephen. 
Oh, yes ; they're decorating and furnishing most elab- 
orately. Lou had a note from Rose a day or two since. 

James. 
He'll strip my sister of every penny she's come into, 
if she doesn't look out. 

Stephen. 
The gross indelicacy of the thing is what offends me. 
l^Ve have been content to remain passive. 

James. 
And I fancy our plans and projects are as important as 
the Colonel's. 

Stephen. 
I should assume so. 

James. 
[77? Stephen, wz'fA a jerk of the thumb towards Thad- 
deus.] Shall 1 ? 

Stephen. 
No harm in it now. 



76 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
\_To Thaddeus, leaning forward — impressively.'] 
Tad 

Thaddeus. 
What? 

James. 
That land at the bottom of Gordon Street, where the 
allotment grounds are 



Yes? 
It's mine. 



Thaddeus. 



James. 



Thaddeus. 

Yours, Jim ? ) 

James. 
It belongs to me. I've signed the contract and paid a 
deposit. 

' Thaddeus. 
What do you intend to do with it ? 

James. 
What should I intend to do with it — eat it ? I intend 
to build there — build the finest avenue of houses in 
Singlehampton. [^Risijig and going to the piano, where 
he traces a plan on the lid with his finger.'] Look here ! 
[Thaddeus joins him and watches t/te tracing of the 
plan.] Here's Gordon Street. Here's the pub at the 
corner. I come alone here — straight along here — to 
Albert Terrace. Opposite Albert Terrace I take in 
Clark's piano factory ; and where Clark's factory stands 



THE THUNDERBOLT 77 

I lay out an ornamental garden with a fountain in the 
middle of it. On I go at a curve, to avoid the play- 
ground of Fothergill's school, till I reach Bolton's store. 
He stops me, but I'll squeeze him out some day, as sure 
as my name's James Henry! [7i? Thaddeus.] D'ye 
see ? 

Thaddeus. 
[^Uncomfortably, eyeing Helen.] Splendid ; splendid. 

James. 
[Moving romid the head of the piano to the right 7\ Poor 
old Ned ! Ha ! my brother won't have done so badly by 
his native town after all. 

Thaddeus. 

[Under his breath, trying to remind J AMKS of Helen's 
presence^ Jim — Jim 

James. 

[ Obliviously, coming upoti H elen. ] D'ye know the spot 
we're talking about, my dear? 

Helen. 
No. 

James. 

You must get 'em to walk you down there. [To 
Phyllis ] You trot her down there, Phylhs. 

Phyllis. 
[Without raising her eyes from her 7Porh.~\ I will. 

Stephen. 
[To James.] You haven't told them everything, Jim. 



78 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
{Sitting upon the settee by the piano.'] Haven't I ? 
[Mopping his brow.'] Oh, your offices 

Stephen. 
[To eveiybociy.] It isn't of the greatest importance, per- 
haps, but it's part of James's scheme to erect an excep- 
tionably noble building in the new road to provide ade- 
quate printing and publishing offices for the Times and 
Mirror. 

Thaddeus. 
What, you're not deserting King Street, Stephen? 

Stephen. 
[Rising and zvalking to the fireplace.] Yes, I've had 
enough of those cramped, poky premises. 

Thaddeus. 
They are inconvenient. 

Stephen. 
[On the hearthrug, facing the others^ And, to be per- 
fectly frank, I've had enough of Mr. Hammond and the 
Courier. 

Thaddeus. 
I don't blame you there. The Courier is atrociously 
personal occasionally. 

Stephen. 
[Pompously^ I don't say it because Hammond is, in a 
manner, my rival — I'm not so small-minded as that — but 
I do say that he is a vulgar man and that the Courier I'll 
a vulgar and mischievous journal. 

James. 
He's up to date, though, is Mister Freddy Hammond. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 79 

Stephen. 

His plant is slightly more modern than mine, I admit. 

James. 
{Chuckling?^ Aye, you'll be able to present those an- 
tediluvian printing-presses of yours to the museum as 
curiosities. 

Stephen. 
\_With a wave of the hand.'] Anyhow, the construction 
of Jim's new road marks a new era in the life of the 
Times and Mirror. \_Leaving the fireplace.] I'm putting 
no less than twelve thousand pounds into the dear old 
paper. Tad. 

Thaddeus. 
[Standing by the table on the left] Twelve thou- 
sand ! 

Stephen. 
How will that agree with Mr. Hammond's digestion, 
eh? Twelve thousand pounds ! [G^wzVzc^/t' Thaddeus.] 
And what are your plans for the future, if one may ask .? 
You'll leave these wretched villas, of course ? 

Thaddeus. 
[Evasively.] Oh, I — I'm waiting till this law business 
is absolutely settled. 

Stephen. 
[Hastily.] Quite right ; quite right. So am I ; so am 
I, actually. But we may talk, 1 suppose, among our- 
selves 

James. 
[Looking at his watch and rising.] By George ! We 
shall miss Rose and the Colonel. 



80 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
[Fetching his hal.'] Pish ! the Colonel. 

James. 
\_Shaking hands hurriedly with Helen who rises.'] 
Ta-ta, my dear. \_As he passes Phyllis.] See you at the 
meeting, Phylhs. 

Stephen. 
\_To IIe.\.y.^, across the piafio.] Good-bye, Helen. 

James. 

[ Who has picked up his hat, at the door.! Don' t be late, 
Tad. 

Stephen. 
\_At the door.] No, no ; don't be late. 

Thaddeus, 
Four o'clock. 

Stephen. 
Sharp. 

[Thaddeus /(^//oTvs James a;id Stephen into the 
hall and returns immediately. 

Thaddeus. 
{Closing the door.] My dear Helen, I apologize to you 
most humbly. 

Helen. 
[Coming forward.] For what? 

Thaddeus. 
For Jim's bad taste, and Stephen's, in talking before 
you as they've been doing. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 81 

Helen. 
Oh, it's of no consequence. 

Thaddeus. 
I could have kicked Jim. 

Helen. 
\_Imptdsively.'\ Mr. Tad — {__gi'ving Jii)n her hand'] I 
congratulate you. \_Govig to Phyllis and kissing her 
lightly upon the cheek.'] I congratulate you both heartily. 
No two people in the world deserve good fortune more 
than you do. 

Thaddeus. 
It's extremely kind and gracious of you to take it in this 
way. 

Helen. 
Why, in what other way could I take it ? 

Thaddeus. 
At your age, you mayn't esteem money very highly. 
But — there are other considerations 

Helen. 
\_Turning away and seating herself upon the settee by the 
piano.] Yes, we won't speak of those. 

Thaddeus. 
\_lValktng to the bay-window.] And there was just a 
chance that the inquiries might have brought a will to 
light — a will benefiting you. Though you were anxious 
not to appear unfriendly to the family, you must have 
realized that. 

Helen. 
Whether I did or not, it's all done with now finally — 
finally. \_Blowing the subject from her,] Phew ! 



82 THE THUNDERBOLT 



Thaddeus. 



[^His elboivs on the piano, speaking across it to Helen.] 
Phyl and I are not altogether selfish and grasping. She 
has been worrying herself to death these last few days — 
haven't you, Phyl? — ever since we heard the meeting 
was near at hand. 

Phyllis. 
\_In a low voice. '\ Yes. 

Thaddeus. 
Ever since you came to us, in fact. 

Helen. 
\_ Jumping up.'] Ah, what a nuisance I've been to you ! 
[^Sitting beside Phyllis] How relieved you'll be to pack 
me off to-morrow ! 

Thaddeus. 
To-morrow ? 

\Uttering a little sound, Phyllis stops working 
and stares straight before her. 

Helen. 
\_Slipping an arm round Phyllis' s waist ^^ That letter 
I had while we were at lunch — it was from a girl who 
used to sit next to me at Julian's. She's found me some 
capital rooms, she says, close to Regent's Park, and I'm 
going up to look at them. [Thaddeus comes to her.] In 
any event, the sooner I get out of Singlehampton the 
better. 

Thaddeus. 
Why? 

Helen. 
Everybody in the town eyes me so queerly ; I'm cer- 
tain they suspect. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 83 

Thaddeus. 
It's your imagination. 

Helen. 
It isn't. {Hesitatingly. ~\ I — I've confided in Mr. Trist. 

Thaddeus. 
\_Surprised.~\ Confided in Trist ? 

Helen. 

\_Noddijig.'\ I hated the idea of his thinking me — 
deceitful. 

"" Thaddeus. 

[Sitting on the settee by the piano. '\ Trist would never 
have guessed. 

Helen. 

Oh, Mr. Tad, who, in heaven's name, that wasn't 
born yesterday could beheve the story of my being simply 
a protegee of father's, the daughter of an old business 
friend ot his ? Your brother Stephen may be an excellent 
editor, but his powers of invention are beneath contempt. 

Thaddeus. 

\_Laughing.'] Ha, ha, ha ! [Rubbing his knees.'] That's 
one for Stephen ; that's a rap for Stephen. 

Helen. 

And then, again, the other members of the family are 
becoming so horribly jealous. 

Thaddeus. 
[Seriously.'] Ah, yes. 



84 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
You noticed your brother's remarks? And Mrs. 
James and Mrs. Stephen ahnost cut me in East Street 
tliis morning. 

Thaddeus. 
\Cle)ichmg his fists. '\ Thank God, we shall have done 
with that sort of thing directly we shake the dust of 
Singlehampton from our feet ! 

Helen. 

Directly you ! 

Thaddeus. 

\Gaily.'\ There ! Now I've let the cat out of the bag. 
Phyllis will tell you. You tell her, Phyl. \Rismg.'\ I 
promised Rawlinson I'd help him index his madrigals 
this afternoon ; I'll run round to him and explain. \Faus- 
ing on his way to the door.'] Helen, you must be our first 
visitor in our new home, wherever we pitch our tent. 
Make that a bargain with her, Phyl. \_At the door, to 
Phyllis.] We'll start at ten minutes to, old lady. Be 
ready. 

\He disappears, closing the door after him. 

Helen. 
[Rising and walking away to the left.'] Well ! I do 
think it shabby of you, Phyllis. You and Mr. Tad 
might have trusted me with your secret. \_Facing her.] 
Phyllis, wouldn't it be glorious if you came to London to 
live — or near London ? Wouldn't it ■^ 

Phyllis. 
[/;z a stra7ige, quiet voice, her hands lying quite still 
upon her lap.] Helen — Helen dear 

Helen. 
Yes? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 85 

Phyllis. 
That morning, a month ago, in Linchpool — while we 
were all sitting in your poor father's library waiting for 
you 

Helen. 
\_Returning to her.'] On the Friday morning 

Phyllis. 
There was a discussion as to making you an allow- 
ance, and — \_her eyes avoiding Helen's] and everybody 
was most anxious — most anxious — that you should be 
placed upon a proper footing. 

Helen. 
Mr. Elkin broached the subject when I arrived. You 
were out of the room. 

Phyllis. 
Yes. And you declined 

Helen. 
Certainly. 1 gave them my reasons. Why do you 
bring this up? 

[Phyllis rises, laying her work iipott the table 
behind her. 

Phyllis. 
\^Drawing a deep breath.'] Helen — I want you to re- 
consider your decision. 

Helen. 

Reconsider it? 

Phyllis. 
I want you to reconsider your determination not to ac- 
cept an allowance from the family. 



86 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
Impossible. 

Phyllis. 

Oh, don't be so hasty. Listen first. This good fortune 
of ours — of Tad's and mine — that you've congratulated 
us upon — I shall never enjoy it 

Helen. 
{^Incredulously.'] Oh, Phyllis ! 

Phyllis. 
I shall not. It will never bring me a moment's happi- 
ness unless you consent to receive an allowance from the 
family — ^[Helen seats herself in the chair on the extreme 
left with her back to Phyllis] sufficient to give you a 
sense of independence 

Helen. 
I couldn't. 

Phyllis. 
And to make your future perfectly safe. 

Helen. 
I couldn't. 

Phyllis. 
[ Entreatingly. ] Do — do 

Helen. 
It's out of the question. 

Phyllis. 
Please — for my sake ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 87 

Helen. 
\_Turning to her.~\ I'm sorry to distress you, Phyllis ; 
indeed I'm sorry. But when you see me gaining some 
little position in London, through my work, you'll cease 
to feel miserable about me. 

Phyllis. 

Never — never 

Helen. 

\_Stariing- up and walking to the fireplace impetuously^ 
Oh, you don't understand me — my pride. A pensioner 
of the Mortimore family ! I ! How can you suggest it? 
I refused their help before I was fully acquainted with 
these, to me, uncongenial relations of father's — I don't 
include Mr. Tad in that expression, of course ; and now I 
a7n acquainted with them I would refuse it a thousand 
times. If I were starving, I wouldn't put myself under 
the smallest obligation to the Mortimores, 

Phyllis. 
[^Unsteadily. '\ Obligation — to — the — Mortimores — obli- 
gation ! \_As if about to make some commu7tication to 

Helen, suppoj-ting herself by leaning upon the table on the 
right, her body bent forward — almost inaudiblyA Helen — 

Helen 

Helen. 

What ? 

[ There is a short silence, and then Phyllis drops 
back upon the settee by the piano. 

Phyllis. 
[Rocking herself to andfro.'\ Oh — oh, dear — oh ! 

Helen. 
[Coming to her and standing over her.~\ You're quite 
ill, Phyllis ; your bad nights are taking it out of you 
dreadfully. You ought to have the advice of a doctor. 



88 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 
\_lVeakIyr\ No — don't send for the doctor 

Helen. 
Go up to your room, then, and keep quiet till Mr. Tad 
calls you. \_Glaiicing at the clock7\ You've a quarter of 
an hour 

Phyllis. 
\Clutching Helen's skirt.'\ Helen — you're fond of me 
and Tad — you said yesterday how attached you'd grown 
to us 

Helen. 
\Soothingly.'\ I am — I am — very fond of you. 

Phyllis. 
And the children ? 

Helen, 
Yes, yes. 

Phyllis. 
My poor children ! 

Helen, 
Hush ! Why poor children ? Pull yourself together. 
Go up to your room, 

Phyllis. 
\Taking Helen's ?iand and caressing ii.~\ Helen — if 
you won't accept an allowance from the entire family, 
accept it from Tad and me. 

Helen, 
No, no, no. 

Phyllis. 
Four — three hundred a year. 



No. 

Two hundred. 
No. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 
Helen. 

Phyllis. 

Helen. 



Phyllis. 
We could spare it. We shouldn't miss it ; we should 



never miss it. 



Not a penny, 



Helen. 



Phyllis. 
[^Rising and gripping Helen's shoulders.'] You shall 
— you shall accept it, Helen. 

Helen. 

Phyllis ! \J\eleasing herself and drawing back r\ Phyllis, 
you're very odd to-day. You've got this allowance idea 
on the brain. Look here ; don't let's mention the sub- 
ject again, or I — 1 shall be offended. 



Phyllis. 
\_Didly, hangifig her head.] All right. 



Very well. 



Helen. 
Forgive me. It happens to be just the one point I'm 
sensitive upon. \Listening, ihengoingto the opeji zaindoiu.] 
Here are the children. Do go up-stairs. \Calli7ig into 
the garden^ Hallo ! [Phyllis leaves the room as Cyril 
and Joyce appear outside the window. The hoy is carry- 
ing a few freshly-cut 7'oses,'\ Now, then, children ! Isn't 
it time we routed Mr. Trist out of his study 1 



90 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Cyril. 

\_Etitering and going towards the door.'] I'll stir the old 

chap up. \_Remembering the nosegay.] Oh \_Preseni- 

ing it to Helen, who conies forward with Joyce.] Allow 
me 

Helen. 
For me ? How sweet of you ! \_Placing the flowers 
against her belt and then at her breast^ Where shall I 
wear them — here, or here ? 

Cyril. 
Anywhere you like. {Awkwardly.] We sha'n't see 
anything nicer at the flower-show, I'm certain. 

Helen. 
No ; they're beautiful. 

Cyril. 
\Jiis eyes on the carpet.] I don't mean the flowers — 

Helen. 
\_Inclining her head.] Thank you. {To Cyril, who 
again makes for the door.] Don't disturb mother. {Mov- 
ing away to the fireplace where, at the mirror over the 
mantel-shelf, she fixes the roses in her belt.] She has to go 
to Claybrook Road with your father in a little while and 
I want her to rest. 

Cyril. 
{Pausing.] She is seedy, isn't she? {Puckering his 
brows.] Going to Uncle Jim's, are they ? 

Helen. 
Yes. 

Cyril. 
That's to do with our money, I expect. 



TEE THUNDERBOLT 91 

Helen. 
\^Busy at the mirro>'.'\ With your money ? 

Cyril. 
Father's come. into a heap of money, you know. 

Joyce. 
^^Reproachfully .'\ Cyril ! 

Cyril. 
\Not heeding her.'\ So have Uncle Jim and Uncle 
Stephen and Aunt Rose. 

Helen. 
I'm delighted. 

Cyril. 
\_To Joyce, who is signing to him to desist.'] Oh, what's 
the use of our keeping it dark any longer ? 

Joyce. 
We promised mother 

Cyril. 
Ages ago. But you heard what father said to Uncle 
Stephen — it's all over the town. Young Pither says 
there's something about it in the paper. 

Helen. 
The paper ? 

Cyril. 
The Courier — that fellow Hammond's paper. Ham- 
mond was beastly sarcastic about it last week, Pither 
says. \_Going to the door.] I don't read the Courier xny- 
self. \_At the door he beckons to Joyce. She Joins him 
and his voice drops to a whisper.] Besides — \_glancing 



92 THE THUNDERBOLT 

significatitly at Helen, whose back is turned to thei7i\ it'll 
make it easier for us. \_Nudging her.~\ Novv's your 
chance ; do it now. \_Aloud.'] Give me five minutes, 
you two. I can't be seen at the flower-show in these 
togs. 

\_He withdraws. Having assured herself that the 
door is closed, Joyce advances to Helen. 

Joyce. 
Helen 

Helen. 
Hallo ! 

Joyce. 
\Gravely.'\ Have you a minute to spare? 

Helen. 
{Coining to the round table.'] Yes, dear. 

Joyce. 
Helen, it's quite true we've come into a great deal 
of money. Uncle Edward, who lived at Linchpool — 
oh, you knew him, didn't you? — he was a friend of 
yours 

Helen. 
{A^odding.] He was a friend of mine. 

Joyce. 
Uncle Edward has left his fortune to the family — 
\breaking off~\ you've been told already ! 

Helen. 
Well— yes. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 93 

Joyce. 
We haven't received our share yet ; but we shaii, as 
soon as it's all divided up. [^Timid/y .'] Helen — [Helen 
seats herself 7ipon t/ie ottoman in an attitude of attention^ 
I needn't tell you this will very much improve father and 
mother's position. 

Helen. 
Naturally. 

Joyce. 
And mine and Cyril's, too, I'm to finish abroad, I 
believe. 

Helen. 
Lucky brat. 

Joyce. 
I3ut it's Cyril I want to talk to you about — my brother 
Cyril 

Helen. 
Cyril? 

Joyce. 
Cyril is to be entered for one of the principal public 
schools. 

Helen. 
Is he ? 

Joyce. 
One of those schools which stamp a boy a gentleman 
for the rest of his life. 

Helen. 
He is a gentleman, as it is. I've a high opinion of 
Cyril. 



94 • THE THUNDERBOLT 

Joyce. 
Oh, I am glad to hear you say so, because — be- 
cause 

Helen. 

Because what ? [Joyce turns away in silence to the set- 
tee by the piano. '\ What are you driving at, Joicey ? 

Joyce. 

\_Lou7iging on the settee uneasily and inelegantly.'] Of 
course, Cyril's only fourteen at present ; there's no de- 
nying that. 

Helen. 
I suppose there isn't. 

Joyce. 

But in three years' time he'll be seventeen, and in 
another three he'll be twenty. 

Helen. 

IPuzzled.-] Well? 

Joyce. 
And at twenty you're a man, aren't you? 

Helen. 
A young man. 

Joyce. 

\Seating herself, her elbows on her knees, examining hey 
fingers.] And even then he'd be content to wait. 

Helen. 
To wait? What for? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 95 

Joyce. 
[/« a low voice.'] Cyril wishes to marry you someday, 
Helen. 

Helen. 
\^Afier a pause, getitly.'] Does he ? 

Joyce. 
He consulted me about it soon after you came to us, 
and I advised him to be quite sure of himself before he 
spoke to you. And he is, quite sure of himself. 

Helen. 
And he's asked you to speak_/br him ? 

Joyce. 
He prefers my doing it. \Looking, under her lashes, at 
Helen.] Are you furious? 

Helen. 
Not a scrap. 

Joyce. 
[Transferring herself from the settee to the floor at Hel- 
en's /t'^/ — embracing her.] Oh, that's lovely of you ! I 
was afraid you might be. 

Helen. 
Furious? 

Joyce. 
{^Gazing at her admiringly.] At our aiming so high. I 
was afraid you might consider that marrying Cyril would 
be marrying beneath you. 

Helen. 
[Tenderly.] The girl who marries Cyril will have to be 
a far grander person than I am, Joyce, to be marrying 
beneath her. 



96 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Joyce. 
Oh, Cyril's all right in himself, and so is father. 
Father's very retiring, but he's as clever a musician as 
any in the midlands. And mother is all right in herself. 
{^Backing away from Helen.] It's not mother's fault; 
it's her misfortune 

Helen. 
Her misfortune ? 

Joyce. 
• \_Bitlerly.~\ Oh,. I'll be bound they mentioned it at 
" Ivanhoe " or at the Crescent. 

Helen. 
Mentioned ? 

Joyce. 
[^Between herieeth.~\ The shop — grandfather's shop 

Helen. 
Ah, yes. 

Joyce. 

\ClencJiins^ her hands. '\ Ah! {Squatting upon her heels, 
her shoulders hunched.~\ Grandfather was a grocer, Helen 
■ — a grocer. Oh, mother has suffered terribly through it 
— agonies. 

Helen. 
Poor mother ! 

Joyce. 
We've all suffered. Sometimes it's been as much as 
Cyril and I could do to keep our heads up ; {proudly, 
with flashing eyes'] but we've done it. The Single- 
hampton people are beasts. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 97 

Helen. 
Joyce ! 

Joyce. 
If it's the last word I ever utter — beasts. \Swallowi7ig 
a tea7'7\ And only half of it was grocery — only half. 

Helen. 
Only half ? 

Joyce. 

It was a double shop. There were two windows ; the 
other half was bottles of wine. They forget that ; they 
forget that ! 

Helen. 
A shame. 

Joyce. 
\_Ejnbracmg Helen again.'] What shall I say to him, 
then ? 

Helen. 
Say to him ? 

Joyce. 
Cyril — what answer shall I give him? 

Helen. 
Oh, tell Cyril that I am highly complimented by his 
ofifer 

Joyce. 
[Eagerly.'] Complimented — yes ? 

Helen. 
And that, if he's of the same mind when he's a man, 
and I am still single, he may propose to me again. 



98 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Joyce. 
\_Ift a/arm.'] If you're — still single ? 

Helen. 
Yes — \shaking her head~\ and if he's of the same mind. 
[There is a sharp, prolonged rappmg on the door. 
Joyce and Helen rise. 

Joyce. 
{Going to the door.'] It's that frightful tease. 

[She opens the door mid Trist enters, carrying his 
hat, gloves, and walking-stisk. 

Trist. 
Ladies, I have reason to believe that several choice 
specimens of the Dianthiis Caryophyllus refuse to raise 
their heads until you grace the flower-show with your 
presence. 

[Joyce slaps his hand playfully and disappears. 
Helen takes her hat from the round table and, 
standing before the ??iirror at the inaiitelpiece, 
pins it 071 her head. Trist watches her. 

Helen. 
[After a silence, her back to Trist.] The glass reflects 
more than one face, Mr. Trist. 

Trist. 
[Moving.'] I beg your pardon. 

Helen. 
You were thinking ? 

Trist. 
Philosophizing — observing your way of putting on your 
hat. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 99 

Helen. 
I put it on carelessly ? 

Trist. 
Quickly. A convincing sign of youth. After you are 
five-and-twenty the process will take at least ten minutes. 

Helen. 
And at thirty ? 

Trist. 
Half an hour. Add another half-hour for each suc- 
ceeding decade 

Helen. 
\Turning to him.'\ I'm afraid you're a knowing, worldly 
parson. 

Trist. 
\Laughing.'\ No, no ; a tolerant, human parson. 

Helen. 
We shall see. \Picking up her gloves-l If ever you get 
a hving in London, Mr. Trist, I shall make a point of 
sitting under you. 

Trist. 
I bind you to that. 

Helen. 
\_PulHng on a glove.^ By-the-bye, I set out to seek ?ny 
London living to-morrow. 

Trist. 
[ IVi'f/i a change of manner. '\ To-morrow ? 

Helen. 
To-morrow. 



100 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Trist. 
\_B/a7i/cly.'\ I — I'm sorry. 

Helen, 
Very polite of you. I'm glad. 

Trist. 
Glad .? 

Helen. 
It sounds rather unkind, doesn't it ? Oh, I'm extremely 
fond of everybody in this house — Mr. and Mrs. Tad and 
the children, I mean. But I'm sure it isn't good, mor- 
ally, for me to be here, even if there vvere no other rea- 
sons for my departure. 

Trist. 

Morally ? 

Helen. 
Yes; if I remained here, all that's bad in my nature 
would come out on top. Do you know that I've the 
makings in me of a most accomplished liar and hypo- 
crite 1 

Trist. 
I shouldn't have suspected it. 

Helen. 
I have. \_Cofning nearer to him.'\ What do you think 
takes place this afternoon ? 

Trist. 
What ? 

Helen. 
\With gradually mcreasing excitemetit.'] There's to be 
a meeting of the Mortimore family at James Mortimore's 



THE THUNDERBOLT 101 

house at four o'clock. He and his brother Stephen have 
just informed me, with the dehcacy which is character- 
istic of them, that they are going to arrange with the law- 
yers to administer my father's estate without any more, 
delay. And I was doui^le-faced enough to receive the 
news smihngly and agreeably, and all the time I could 
have struck them — I could have seen them drop dead in 
this room without a pang of regret 

Trist. 

No, no 

He-len. 

I could. [^Walking away and pacing the roo7n on the 
left.'\ Oh, it isn't father's money I covet. I said so to 
the family in Linchpool and I say it again. But I de- 
ceived myself. 

Trist. 
Deceived yourself? 

Helen. 
Deceived myself. I can't <^^«rthat father should have 
forgotten me. I can't bear it; I can't resign myself to 
it ; I shall never resign myself to it. I thought I should 
be able to, but I was mistaken. I told Mr. Thaddeus 
that I've been suffering no suspense this last month. 
It's a falsehood ; I've been suffering intense sus- 
pense. I've been watching the posts, for letters 
from Elkin ; I've been praying, daily, hourly, that 
something — anything — might be found to prove that 
father had remembered me. And I loathe, these people, 
who step over me and stand between me and the being I 
loved best on earth ; I loathe them. I detest the whole 
posse of them, except the Thaddeuses ; and I wish this 
money may bring them, and those belonging to them, 
every ill that's conceivable. \_ConfrontingTKlST, her bosom 
heaving.'] Don't you lecture me. 



102 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Trist. 
\Good-humoredly.'\ I haven't the faintest intention of 
doing so. 

Helen. 
Ha! \_At the piano, mimicking James.] Here's Gor- 
don Street 

Trist. 
Eh? 

Helen. 
You come along here, to Albert Terrace — taking in 
Clark's piano factory 

Trist. 
Who does ? 

Helen. 
\Fiercely.'\ Here — here's the pub at the corner! 

Trist. 
{Bewildered. '\ I — I don't 

Helen. 
{Speaking to him across the piano. '\ James Mortimore 
is buying land and building a new street in the town. 

Trist. 
Really ? 

* Helen. 

And Stephen is putting twelve thousand pounds into 
his old-fashioned paper, to freshen it up ; and the Pont- 
ings are moving into a big house in London — near Burke- 
ley Square, as James calls it ; and they must needs dis- 
cuss their affairs in my hearing, brutes that they are ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 103 

\_Co7nmg to the chair on the left of the table at the end of 
the piano. '\ Oh, thank God, I'm leaving the town to-mor- 
row ! It was only a sort of curiosity that brought me 
here. [Sitting a7ui producing her handkerchief. '\ Thank 
God, I m leaving to-morrow ! 

\_He lualks to the window on the right to allow her 
to recover herself, and then returns to her. 

Trist. 
My dear child, may I speak quite plainly to you? 

Helen. 
[ Wiping her eyes.'] If you don't lecture me. 

Trist. 
I won't lecture you. I merely venture to suggest that 
you are a trifle illogical. 

Helen. 
I dare say. 

Trist. 
After all, recollect, our friends James and Stephen are 
not to be blamed for the position they find themselves in. 

Helen. 
Their manners are insufferable. 

Trist. 
Hardly insufferable. Nothing is insufferable. 

Helen. 
There you go ! 

Trist. 
Their faults of manner and breeding are precisely the 
faults a reasonable, dispassionate person would have no 



104 THE THUNDERBOLT 

difficulty in excusing. And I shall be mucn astonished, 
when llie bitterness of your mortification has worn off 

Helen. 
You are lecturing ! 

Trist. 
I'm not ; I give you my word I'm not. 

Helen. 
It sounds uncommonly like it. What did I tell you 
the other day — that you were different from the clergy- 
men I'd met hitherto, because you were ? 

Trist. 

Jolly. 

Helen. 

\_lVit/i a s/irui^-~\ Jolly! \^lVearily.'] Oh. please go and 
hurry the children up, and let's be off to the flowers. 

Trist. 
\_A'ot stirrmg.~\ My de^r Miss Thornhill 

Helen. 
\^Impatiently7\ I'll fetch them 

Trist. 
Don't, \_Deliberately^ My dear Miss Thornhill, to 
show you how little I regard myself as worthy of the 
privilege of lecturing you ; \siJiili7ig\ to show you how 
the seeds of selfishness may germinate and flourish even 
in the breast of a cleric — may I make a confession to 
you? 

Helen. 
Confession ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 105 

Trist. 
I — I want to confess to you that the circumstance of 
your having been left as you are — cast adrift on the 
world, unprotected, without means apart from your own 
talent and exertions — is one that fills me with — hope. 

Helen. 
Hope? 

Trist. 
Fills me with hope, though it may scarcely justify my 
presumption. [^SiVh'no- opposite to her^ You were assum- 
ing a minute ago, in joke perhaps, the possibility of my 
obtaining a living some day. 

Helen. 
\_Graciously, but with growing ujieasiness.'] Not alto- 
gether in joke. 

Trist. 
Anyhow, there is a decided possibihty of a hving com- 
ing my way — and practically in London, as it chances. 

Helen. 
I — I'm pleased. 

Trist. 
Yes, in the natural order of events a hving will be 
vacant within the next few years which is in the gift of 
the father of an old college chum of mine. It's a subur- 
ban parish — close to Twickenham — and I'm promised it. 

Helen. 
That would be — nice for you. 

Trist. 
\Gazing at her fixedly. ~\ Jolly. 



106 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
\_Her eyes drooling.'] Very — jolly. 

Trist, 
I should still be a poor man — that I shall always be ; 
but poverty is relative. It would be riches compared 
with my curacy here. \_Afier a pause. ] The vicarage 
has a garden with some grand old trees. 

Helen. 
Many of the old gardens — in the suburbs — are charm- 
ing. 

Trist. 
I — I could let the vicarage dmmg the summer, to 
increase my income. 

Helen. 
May a vicar — let — his vicarage 1 

Trist. 
It's done. Some Bishops object to it ; [Jnnocently] but 
you can dodge the old boy. 

Helen. 
Dodge the — old boy ! 

Trist. 
There are all sorts of legal fictions to help you. I 
know of a Bishop's son-in-law who let his vicarage for a 
term under the pretence of letting only the furniture. 

Helen. 
Wicked. 

Trist. 
\_Leaning forward.'] But I shouldn't dream of letting 
my vicarage if my income — proved sufficient 



THE THUNDERBOLT 107 

Helen. 
It would be wealth — you say — in comparison 

Trist. 
Yes, but I — I might — marry. 

Helen. 
\^HastiIy.'] Oh — oh, of course. 

[The door opens and Joyce and Cyril enter, 
dressed for going out. Cyril is in his best suit, 
is gloved, ajid swings a cane which is too long 
for him. At the same moment Thaddeus lets 
himself into the garden at the gate. He is ac- 
compa7iied by Denyer, ati ordinary-looking 
person with whiskers and moustache. Helen 
and Trist 7'ise, and she goes to the mirror in 
some confusion and gives a last touch to her hat. 

Joyce. 
Have we kept you waiting ? 

Cyril. 
Sorry. Couldn't get my tie to go right. 

Thaddeus. 
\^In the garden.'] Come in, Denyer. [^At the window, to 
those in the room.] What, haven't you folks gone yet? 

Trist. 

\_lVith the children, following Helen into the garden.] 
Just off. 

Thaddeus. 
\To Helen, as she passes him.] Hope you'll enjoy your- 
self. 

Trist. 
\To Denyer.] Ah, Mr. Denyer, how are you? 



108 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Denver. 
How are you, Mr. Trist ? 

Joyce and Cyril. 
\_To Thaddeus.] Good-bye, father. 

Thaddeus. V 

\_Kissino: them.'] Good-bye, my dears. 

[Trist opens the gate and Helen and the children 
pass out into the lane. Trist follows them, 
closing the gate. Thaddeus and Denyer en- 
ter the room. Denver is carrying a news- 
paper. 

Cyril. 
\_Out of sight, shrilly.'] Which way? 

Trist. 
Through Parker Street. 

Joyce. 
Who walks with who ? 

Helen. 
I walk with Cyril. 

[ 7he sound of the chatter dies in the distance. 

Denver. 
\To Thaddeus.] Then I can put up the bill at once, 
Mr, Mortimore ? 

Thaddeus. 
\Layitig his hat upon the table on the left.] Do, Den- 
yer. To-morrow — to-day 

Denver. 
I'll send a man round in the morning. {^Producing a 
note-book and writijig in it.] Let's see — your lease is 
seven, fourteen, twenty-one? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 109 

Thaddeus. 
That's it. 

Denver. 
How much of the first seven is there to run — I ought 
to remember ? 

Thaddeus. 
Two years and a half from iMichaelmas. 

Denver. 
Rent ? 

Thaddeus. 
Forty. 

\_T/ie door opens a little way and Phyllis pee/is in. 
Her featiwes are draum, her lips white and set. 

Denver. 
Fixtures at a valuation, I s'pose 1 

Thaddeus. 
Ha, ha ! The costly fixtures at a valuation. 

Denver. 
You may as well sell 'em, if they only fetch tuppence. 
\Seeing Phvllis, who has entered softly. '\ Good -afternoon, 
ma'am. 

Phvllis. 
[/« a low voice ^ Good-afternoon. 

Thaddeus. 
\^Turning to her.'] Phyl, dear! I met Mr. Denyer in 
the lane. [Gleejttlly.'] The bill goes up to-morrow — 



110 THE THUNDERBOLT 

"house to let" — to-morrow morning — \Jo Denver] first 
thing 

[Phyllis moves to the bay-witidow without 
speaking. 

Denver. 
First thing. [^Puttijig his pocketbook a'way.'\ Excuse 
me — you're on the lookout for a new residence 'i 

Thaddeus. 
Oh — er — one must hve somewhere, Denyer. 

Denver. 
And a much superior house to this^ Mr. Mortimore, I 
lay a guinea. 

Thaddeus. 

\Walking about with his hands in his pockets.']^ The 
children are springing up — getting to be tremendous 
people. 

Denver. 
\Genially.'\ Oh, come, sir ! We know. 

Thaddeus. 
\Pausing in his walk.'] Eh ? 

Denver. 
Everybody in the town knows of your luck, and the 
family's. \Picking up his hat and newspaper, which he 
has laid upo7i the ottoman.'] Here's another allusion to it 
in this week's Courier. 

Thaddeus, 
The Courier? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 111 

Denver. 
\^Handing him ihepaper.^ Just out. You keep it : I've 
got another at 'ome. [Thaddeus is searching the paper. '\ 
Middle page — "Town Topics." 

Thaddeus. 
Thanks. 

Denver. 
Mr. Hammond — he will poke his fun. [Going to the 
window.'] P'r'aps you'll give us a call, sir? 

Thaddeus. 
[Following him absently, reading.] Yes, I'll call in. 

Denver. 
\To Phvllis, who is sitting in the chair by the bay- 
window.] Good-day, ma'am. [In the garden, to 'Yv\.\x^- 
Ti^MS, persuasively.] Now, you won't forget Gibson and 
Denyer, Mr. Mortimore ? 

Thaddeus. 
[At the window.] I won't; I won't. 

Denver. 
The old firm. [Opening the gate.] What we haven't 
got on our books isn't worth considering, you take it 
from me. 

[He disappears, closing the gate. Thaddeus 
comes back into the room. 

Thaddeus. 
Upon my soul, this is too bad of Hammond. This'U 
annoy Jim and Stephen frightfully — drive 'em mad. 
[Flinging the paper on to the settee by the piano.] Oh, 

well ! [Putting his necktie in order at the mirror.] 

By Jove, we've done it at last, old lady ! " House to 



112 THE THUNDERBOLT 

let," bey? I believe I'm keener about it than you are, 
now it's^ come to it. What a sensation it'll cause at 
" Ivanhoe," and at the Crescent! 1 tell you what, you 
and I must have a solemn talk to-night — a parliament — 
when the children have gone to bed ; a regular, serious 
talk. \_'JurmTtg.'\ You know, I'm still tor Cheltenham. 
Cheltenham seems to me to offer so many advantages. 
[Phyllis rises slowly. '\ There's the town itself — bright 
and healthy ; then the College, for Cyril. As for its 

musical tastes \_Breakmg off and looking at the 

clock.'] I say, do get your things on, Phyl. \_Co7nparing 
his watch with the clock mid then timing and winding it.\ 
We shall catch it if we're not punctual. 

Phyllis. 
I — I'm not going, Tad. 

Thaddeus. 
Not going, dear? 

Phyllis. 

No — I S^He advances to the right of the piano 

solicitously r] I can't go. 

Thaddeus. 

Aren't you up to it? 

[^SVie moves to the open window and looks into the 
garden. 

Phyllis. 
They won't — be back — for a long while? 

Thaddeus. 
The children, and Trist and Helen? Not for an hour 
or two. 

Phyllis. 
[ Turning.'] Tad — that girl— that girl 



THE THUNDERBOLT 113 

Thaddeus. 
Helen ? 

Phyllis. 
[Coming forward a little.'] We're robbing her ; we're 
robbing her. [^Shaking.'] We're all robbing her. 

Thaddeus. 
[.4/ her side.] You've got another bad attack of nerves 
tliis afternoon — an extra bad one 

Phyllis. 
{Suddenly, grasping his coat.] Tad— I— I've broken 
down 

Thaddeus. 
Broken down ? 

Phyllis. 
I've broken down under it. I — I can't endure it. 

Thaddeus. 
{Soothingly^ What — what ? 

Phyllis. 
Your brother — Edward — your brother — Edward • 

Thaddeus. 
Yes? 

Phyllis. 
Everything — everything — belongs to her — Helen 

Thaddeus. 
My dear, the family were prepared to offer Helen 



114 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 
No, no ! He left every penny to her — left it to her. 
[Staring into his face.~\ There was a will. 



A will? 
I saw it. 
You saw it ? 



Thaddeus. 

Phyllis. 

Thaddeus. 



Phyllis. 
I read it — 1 had it in my hand 

Thaddeus. 

\_Incredulously.'\ You did ! 

Phyllis. 
Yes, I — I did away with it 

Thaddeus. 
Did away with it ? 

Phyllis. 
Destroyed it. 

Thaddeus. 

A will — Ned's will ! \She turns from him and 

sinks helplessly on to the settee by the fireplace. He stands 
looking dow7i upon her in a half frightened, half puzzled 
way ; then his face clears and he looks at the clock again. 
Calmly.'] Phyl, I wish you'd let me have Chapman in. 

Phyllis. 
[/« a faint iwice.] No — no 



THE THUNDERBOLT 115 

Thaddeus. 
My dear, we can afford a doctor now, if we require 
one. That bromide stuff he prescribed for you once — 
that did you no end of good. \_Gomg towards the door.'] 
I'll send Kate. 

Phyllis. 
\Raising herself.] Tad 

Thaddeus. 
\Reassurmgly ^ I'll stay with you till he comes. 

Phyllis. 
Tad — {getting to her feet] you — you think I'm not 
right in my head. Tad, I — I know what I'm saying. 
I'm telling the truth. I'm telhng you the truth. 

Thaddeus. 
A will ? 

Phyllis. 
{At the round table.] Yes — yes 

Thaddeus. 
No, no, you're talking nonsense. {He goes to the door 
and there pauses, his hand on the door-knob.] When — 
when ? 



Phyllis. 



When ? 



Thaddeus. 
When did you see it ? 

Phyllis. 
On the — on the Wednesday night. 



116 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
The Wednesday night ? 

Phyllis. 
You remember — the night there was no night- 
nurse ? 

Thaddeus. 
I remember, of course. 

Phyllis. 
Ann and Louisa had gone to the hotel to he down, and 
— and I was alone with him. 

Thaddeus. 
I remember it all perfectly. 

Phyllis. 
[Moving towards the ottoman, supporting herself by the 
iable.'\ I was with him from eight o'clock till nearly 
eleven. 

Thaddeus. 
Till the others came back. That was the night he — the 
night he sank. 

Phyllis. 
Yes ; it was just before then that he — that he 

Thaddeus. 
\_Leaving the door.'\ Just before then ? 

Phyllis. 
It was just before the change set in that he — that he 
sent me down-stairs. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 117 

Thaddeus. 
Down-Stairs ? 

Phyllis. 
To the library. 

Thaddeus. 
^ The library ? 

Phyllis. 
With the keys. 

Thaddeus. 
Keys? 

Phyllis. 
His bunch of keys. 

Thaddeus. 
Sent you down-stairs — to the Ubrary — with his keys? 

Phyllis. 
Yes. 

Thaddeus. 
What for ? 

Phyllis. 
To fetch something. 

Thaddeus. 
Fetch something ? 

Phyllis. 
From the safe. 



118 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
The safe ? 

Phyllis. 
The safe in the Hbrary — [sitting on the otioman'\ the safe 
in the bookcase in the library. 

Thaddeus. ^ 

\Co7ning to her.'\ What — what did he send you to 
fetch, dear? 

Phyllis. 
Some — some jewelry. 

Thaddeus. 
Jewelry ? 

Phyllis. 
Some pieces of jewelry. He had some pieces of jew- 
elry in his safe in the library, that he'd picked up, he said, 
at odd times, and he wanted to make me a present of one 
of them — 

Thaddeus. 
Make you a present ? 

Phyllis. 
As a keepsake. [Her elbows on her knees, digging her 
fingers into her hair.~\ It was about half-past nine. I was 
sitting beside his bed, thinking he was asleep, and I 
found him looking at me. He recollected seeing me 
when I was a child, he said, skating on the ponds at 
Claybrook ; and he said he was sure I — I was a good 
wife to you — and a good mother to my children. And 
then he spoke of the jewelry — and opened the drawer of 
the table by the bed — and took out his keys — and ex- 
plained to me how to open the safe. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 119 



Thaddeus. 



[^His manner gradually changing as he listens to her 
recital.~\ You — you went down ? 



Yes. 

And — and ? 



Phyllis. 
Thaddeus. 



Phyllis. 
And unlocked the safe. And in the lower drawer I — 
I came across it. 

Thaddeus. 
Came across ? 

Phyllis. 
He told me I should find four small boxes — and I 
could find only three — and that made me look into the 
drawer — and — and under a lot of other papers — I — I 
saw it. 

Thaddeus. 
Itf 

Phyllis. 
A big envelope, with "My Will" written upon it. 

[^There is a short silence; then he seats himself 
upon the settee by the piano. 

Thaddeus. 
\_In a whisper. '\ Well ? 

Phyllis. 
\Raisi7ig her head.'] I put it back into the drawer, and 
locked the safe, and went up-stairs with the jewelry. 
Outside the bedroom door I found Heath, I'd given 



120 THE THUNDERBOLT 

him permission to run out for an hour, to get some air, 
with Pearce and Sadler, the housemaids. He asked me 
if they could do anything for me before they started, I 
told him no, and that Mr. Mortimore seemed brighter 
and stronger. I heard him going down the servant's 
staircase ; and then I went into the room — up to the bed 
— and — and he was altered. 

Thaddeus. 

[Moistening his lips with his tongue.'] Ned ? 

Phyllis. 
His cheeks were more shrunken, and his jaw had 
dropped slightly, and his lips were quite blue ; and his 
breathing was short and quick. 1 measured the medi- 
cine which he was to have if there was any sign of col- 
lapse, and lifted him up and gave it to him. Then I 
rang the bell, and by and by the woman from the 
kitchen answered it. He was easier then — dozing, but 
I told her to put on her hat and jacket and go for 
Dr. Oswald. And then I stood watching him, and — and 
the idea — came to me. 

Thaddeus. 
The — the idea? 

Phyllis. 
My head suddenly became very clear. Every word 
of the argument in the train came back to me 

Thaddeus. 
Argument .■" 

Phyllis. 
Between James and the others — in the train, going to 
Linchpool, on the Tuesday 

Thaddeus. 
Oh — oh, yes. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 121 



Phyllis. 
If Edward died, bow much would he die worth? Who 
would come in for all his money ? Would he remember 
the family, to the extent of a mourning ring or so, in his 
will? If he should die leaving no will ! Of course Ned 
would leave a will, but — where did a man's money go to 
when he didn t leave a will ? 

Thaddeus. 
{Under his breath.'] To his— next-of-kin ! 

Phyllis. 
{Rising painfully.'] After a time, I— I went down- 
stairs again. At first I persuaded myself that I only 
wanted to replace the jewelry — that I didn't want to 
have to explain about the jewelry to Ann and Lou ; 
{moving about the room on the left] but when I got down- 
stairs I knew what I was going to do. And I did it as if 
it was the most ordinary thing in the world. I put back 
the little boxes— and took out the big envelope — and 
locked up the safe again, and — read the will. {Pausitig 
at the pia7io] Everything — everything — to some person 
— some woman living in Paris. {Leaning up 07i the pia?io, 
a clejiched hand aoaijist her brow.] " Everything I die 

possessed of to Helen Thornhill, now or late of " 

such-and-such an address, "spinster, absolutely" ; and 
she was to be his executrix — " sole executrix." That 
was all, except that he begged her to reward his old 
servants — his old servflnts at his house and at the brewery. 
Just a few lines — on one side of a sheet of paper 

Thaddeus. 
Written — in his own — hand ? 

Phyllis. 
I think so. 



122 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
You — you've seen his writing — since 

Phyllis. 
\Leaving the piano. '\ Yes — I'm sure — in his own hand. 

Thaddeus. 
[Heavily.'] That clears it up, then. 

Phyllis. 
Yes. 

Thaddeus. 
He'd made his will — himself — himself 

Phyllis. 
[Her strength failing a Utile. '\ Three years ago. I — 
noticed the date — [dropping into the chair on the extreme 

left'\ it was three years ago 

[Again there is a silence ; the?i he rises and walks 
about aimlessly. 

Thaddeus. 
[Trying to collect his thottghts.'] Yes — yes ; this clears 
it up. This clears it all up. There was a will. There 
was a will. He didn't forget his child ; he didn't forget 
her. What fools — what fools we were to suppose he 
could have forgotten his daughter ! 

Phyllis. ^ 
[Writhing in her chair. '\ Oh, I didn't know— I didn't 
guess ! His daughter! [Moaning^ Oh! oh! 

Thaddeus. 
Don't ; don't, old lady. [She continues her moaning.'] 
Oh, don't, don't! Let's think; let's think, now; let's 
think. [He seats himself opposite to her.] Now, let's think. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 123 

Helen — this'U put Helen in a different position entirely ; 
a different position entirely — won't it? I — I wonder — I 
wonder what's the proper course for the family to take. 
[Stretching out a trembling hand to her.'] You'll have to 
write down — to write down carefully — very carefully — 
\breaki7ig off, with a change of tone] Phyl 

Phyllis. 
Oh ! oh ! 

Thaddeus. 
Don't, dear, don't! PhyUis, perhaps you — didn't — 
destroy the will ; not — actually — destroy it ? [Implor- 
ingly.] You didn't destroy it, dear! 

Phyllis. 
I did— I did 

Thaddeus. 
\_Leanijig back in his chair, dazed.] I — I'm afraid — it 
— it's rather — a serious matter — to — to destroy 

Phyllis. 
[Starting up.] I did destroy it ; I did destroy it. 
[Pacing the room on the right.] I kept it — I'd have burnt 
it then and there if there' d been a fire — but I kept it — I 
grew terrified at what I'd done — oh, I kept it till you left 
me at Roper's on the Thursday morning ; and then I — I 
went on to the Ford Street bridge — and tore it into pieces 
— and threw them into the water. [ IVrinHng her ha7tds.] 
Oh! oh! L ^ ^ J 

Thaddeus. 
[His chin on his breast.] Well — well — we've got to go 

through with it. We've got — to go — through [Rising 

and walking about unsteadily ott the left.] Yes, yes, yes ; 
what a difference it'll make to everybody — not only to 
Helen !, What a difference it'll make at " Ivanhoe," and 
at the Crescent — and to Rose ! 



124 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 
They'll curse me ! They'll curse me more than ever ! 

Thaddeus. 
And to — to us ! 

Phyllis. 
To us — the children ! 

Thaddeus. 
\_Shaking a finger at her across the piano, cunningly. 1 
Ah— ah— ah, but when the affair's really settled, we'll 
still carry out our intention. We — we'll still' 

Phyllis. 
\_Facing hi>n.'] Our intention ? Our ? 

Thaddeus. 
Our intention — of leaving the town 

Phyllis. 
\_Wiidly.'] Leaving the town ! Oh, my God, we shall 
have to leave the town ! 

Thaddeus. 
\_Recoiiing.'] Oh ! 

Phyllis. 
Leave it as beggars and outcasts ! 

Thaddeus. 
\_Quiet/y.'] Oh, yes, we shall — have — to leave the town 

— now 

[ The door opens and a little inaid- servant enters. 
Thaddeus looks at her with dull eyes. 

The Servant. 
Please, sir 



THE THUNDERBOLT 125 

Thaddeus. 
Eh? 

The Servant. 
Maud's just come down from "Ivanhoe." They're 
waiting for you. 

Thaddeus. 
W — waiting ? 

The Servant. 
That's the message, sir. Mr. James and the family's 
waiting for Mr. Thaddeus. 

Thaddeus. 

Oh, I [ Taking out his watch and fingeritig it.~\ Yes, 

of course — \_to the servant~\ I — I'm coming up. \_The serv- 
ant withdraws. Thaddeus picks up his hatfroin the ta- 
ble on the left and turns to Phyllis.] Good-bye, dear. 
\Taking her in his arms, and kissing her, simply^ I — I'll 
go up. 

[//.? puts his hat on, finds his way to the door with 
uncertain steps, and disappears. 



end of the second act 



THE THIRD ACT 

The scene is the dining-room />/ James Mortimore's house. 
In the wall facing the spectator there is an arched re- 
cess with a fireplace at the back of ity and on either 
side of the fireplace^ within the recess^ there is a chim- 
ney-seat. On the right of the recess a door opens into 
the room from a hall or passage. 

Standing out in the middle of the room is a large y oblong 
dining-table, uncovered. On the table are a couple of 
inkstands, some pens, paper, and blotting-paper. Ten 
chairs are placed at regular intervals at the table — 
three at each side and two at the ends. Against the 
wall on the right, near the door, stands a heavy side- 
board. On it are several pieces of ugly-looking, showy 
plate, a carafe of water and a tumbler, and, upon a 
tray, a decanter of red wine and some wine-glasses. 
Against the same wall, but nearer to the spectator, 
there is a cabinet. In front of the cabinet there is a 
round table, covered with a white cloth, on which tea- 
cups and saucers are laid for ten persons. Also on the 
table are a tea-caddy and teapot, a plated kettle-stand, 
a plum- cake, and other accompaniments of afternoon 
tea. On each side of the tea-table there is an armchair 
belonging to the same set of chairs that surround the 
dining-table. 

Against the left-hand wall is another heavy piece of fur- 
niture. Except for this, and the sideboard and the 
cabinet, the walls, below the dado rail, are bare. 
126 



THE THUNDERBOLT 127 

The architecture y decorations, and furniture are pseudo- 
artistic and vulgar. The whole suggests the home of a 
common person of moderate means who has built himself 
a ^^ fine housed 

James and Stephen are seated at the further side of the 
dining-table with a newspaper spread out before them. 
Standing by them, reading the paper over their hus- 
bands^ shoulders, are Ann and Louisa. Rose is sitting, 
looking bored, at the right-hand end of the table, and 
PoNTiNG, smoking a cigar, is pacing the room on the 
left. Louisa and Rose, the latter dressed in rich half- 
mourning, are wearing their hats. 

James. 
\_Sco'wling at the paper r\ It's infamous. 

Louisa. 
Abominable ! 

Ann. 
It oughtn't to be allowed, James. 

Stephen. 
Ah, now James is stabbed at as well as myself. 

James. 
The man's a blackguard ; that's what he is. 

Louisa. 
His wife's a most unpleasant woman. 

Stephen. 
\Leaning back and wiping his spectacles.'] Hitherto / 
have been the chief object of Mr. Hammond's maUce. 



128 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Louisa. 
You'll soon have your revenge now, Stephen. [To the 
others.'] Stephen will soon have his revenge now. 

James. 
By George, I've half a mind to ask Vallance to give 
me his opinion on this ! 

Stephen. 
We might consult Vallance, certainly. 

Louisa. 
And tell him what Mrs. Hammond was. 

Ann. 
When she was plain Nelly Robson. 

Stephen. 
Sssh, sssh ! Do, pray, keep the wife out of it. 

PONTING. 

\Looking at his watch as he walks across to the right.] 
I say, my friends, it's four o'clock, you know. \_TJie 
MoRTlMORES stiffe7i thejuseives and regard him cotd/y.'] 
Where are these lawyer chaps? 

James. 
\Folding the newspaper.] They're not in my pocket, 
Colonel. 

Stephen. 
No, we're not in the habit of carrying them about 
with us. 

Louisa. 
\Laughing sillily.] Oh, Stephen ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 129 

Rose. 
We mustn't lose the — what's the train back, Toby ? 

PONTING. 

\Behind her chair, annoyed. ] F iv e fifty -se v e n . 

Rose. 
I shall be dead with fatigue ; I've two parties to-night. 

James. 
Parties ? 

Rose. 
[72? PONTING.] Destinn is singing at the Trench's, 
Toby. 

Stephen. 
\_Rising.'] H'm! Indeed? 

Ann. 
[/« an ujtdertone, withdrawittg with Louisa to the fire- 
place. '\ Singing ! 

James. 
\Rising.'\ So you're going to parties, are you, Rose? 
Pretty sharp work, with Ned only a month in his grave. 

PONTING. 

We're not conventional people. 

Rose. 
\_Rising and walking away to the left.'] No, we don't 
mourn openly. 

PONTING. 

We don't carry our hearts on our what-d'ye-call-it — 
sleeve. 



130 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Rose. 

And Edward wasn't in the least known in London 
society. 

James. 

\^lValking about on the right ^ You knew him. 

PONTING. 

\^Seating himself on the nearer side of the dining-table in 
the middle chair."] In London, my friends, reg'lar 
mournin' is confined to the suburbs nowadays. May I 
have an ash-tray ? 

Rose. 
{^Walking about on the left.] And we go to Harrogate 
on the twenty-ninth. 

PONTING. 

Good Lord, yes ; I'm kept devihsh quiet there. 

[Ann takes a metal ash-tray from the inanteipiece 
and gives it to Stephen, who almost flings it 
on to the table. The door opens and a maid- 
servant enters followed by Elkin and Val- 
LANCE. The lawyers carry small leather bags. 
The servant retires. 

James. 
[Shaking hands heartily with Elkin ^w^Vallance.] 
Here you are ! 

Elkin. 
A minute or two behind time — my fault. 

Stephen. 
How d'ye do, Mr. Elkin? {Shaking hands with Val- 
lance.] Good-afternoon. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 131 

Elkin. 
\_lo PONTING.] How d'ye do ? 

PONTING. 

[Shortly, not rising.'] H'ah you? 

Vallance. 
[Shaking hands with Ann ««</ Louisa ami bowing to 
Rose.] How do you do ? 

Elkin. 
[To Rose.] Hope you're very well, Mrs. Ponting. 

Rose. 
Thanks. 

Vallance. 
[To Ponting, who nods in return.'] Good-afternoon. 

Ponting. 
[Bringing the palm of his hand down upon the table.'] 
Now, then ! 

James. 
[To Elkin and Vallance, inviting them by a gesture 
to be seated.] Excuse the dhiing-room, gentlemen ; looks 
more like business than the drawing-room. 

Stephen. 
[On the left.] Where's Tad ? 

Ann. 
[Seating herself at the further side of the dining-table in 
the middle chair.] Yes, where's Tad ? 

Louisa. 
[Sitting beside her.] Where are Tad and Phyllis ? 



132 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[^Looking- at his watch.'] Five past, by my watch. 

Rose. 

[^Sitting at the left-hand end of the table.] Oh, never 
mind them. 

James. 
\To Stephen.] P'r'aps you told 'em four-thirty ? 

Stephen. 
{/^fettled.] Perhaps /told them! 

James. 
All right, all right; don't flare up! P'r'aps /did; 
there was a talk of makhig it half-past. 

Stephen. 
\Raising his arms.] On the day I go to press 

James. 
Ring the bell. \Opening the door and calling.] Maud! 

Maud ! 

[Stephen rings the bell. Elkin (^;/<^Vallance 
are now seated, Elkin in the further chair at 
the right-hand end of the dining-table, Val- 
LANCE i7i the chair betiueen Elkin and Ai<i^. 
They o^eii their bags atid sort and arrange 
their papers. 

Ponting. 
We shall be here till midnight. 

James. 
Maud ! 

Rose. 
\_Pusking her chair away from the table.] How vexing ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 133 

PONTING. 

[^With a sfiee?'.'] I suppose one can buy a soot of 
pyjamas in the town, eh, Mrs. James? 

Elkin. 
/ sha'n't detain you long. 

[ J he servant appears at the door. 

James. 
Maud, run down to Nelson Villas — just as you are 

Rose. 
\Satirically7\ Don't hurry them, Jim. Phyllis is smart- 
ening herself up. 

Stephen. 
[Seatmg hvnsclf in the further chair at the left-hand e7id 
of the dining-table, loudly.~\ Say we are waiting for Mr. 
Thaddeus. 

James. 
[7^ the girt.'] Mr, James and the family are waiting 
for Mr. Thaddeus. \_As he closes the door.] Go along 
Collier Street ; you may meet him. 

PONTING. 

{^Fussily .] We can deal with preliminaries, at any 
rate. Kindly push that ash-tray a little nearer. \To 
Vallance.] Mr. Vallance 

James. 
[^Leaving the door, resenting Ponting's assumption of 
authority.] I beg your pardon, Colonel ; we'll give my 
brother another five minutes' grace, with your permission. 

PONTING. 

{Shrugging his shoulders.] By all means — ten — 
twenty 



134 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[^Finding that he has the tiewspaper in his hand.~\ Oh — 

here ! \_Opening the paper. '\ While we're waiting 

for Tad 

Stephen. 
Ah, yes. Read it aloud, Jim. 

PONTING. 

\Rising and moving away impatiently.'] Tsch ! 

James. 
Mr. Vallance — Mr. Elkin — obhge us by listening to 
this. It's from the Courier. 

Stephen. 
This week's Courier — published to-day 

Vallance. 
\_To Elkin.] One of our local papers. 

James. 
Owned by a feller o' the name of Hammond. [^Read- 
ing.'] ' ' Town Topics. 

Ann. 
He married a Miss Robson. 

Louisa. 
A dreadful woman. 

Stephen. 
Sssh, sssh ! Mr, Hammond's offensive remarks are 
usually directed against myself, but in this instance 

James. 
\Walking about as he rends.'] "A curious complica- 
tion arises in connection with the estate of the late Mr- 
Edward Mortimore of Linchpool." 



THE THUNDERBOLT 135 

Stephen. 
He doesn't cloak his attack, you see. 

James. s 

" As many of our readers are aware — [rini?ting his 
hands over his pockets~\ as many of our readers are 
aware 

Stephen. 
He has made them aware of it. 

James. 
\To Ann.] Where did I put them, mother? 

Ann. 
\Producing her spectacles. '\ Try mine, James. 

[Ann gives her spectacles to Stephen, Stephen 
gives them to RoSE, and Rose presents them 
to James. 

James. 
I'm getting as blear-eyed as Stephen. \_Resuming.'] 
"As many of our readers are aware, the whole of that 
gentleman's wealth passes, in consequence of his hav- 
ing died intestate, to a well-known Singlehampton 

family 

Louisa. 
That points to us. 

Stephen. 
\_Irritably.~\ Of course it does ; of course it does. 

Louisa. 
There's no better-known family in Singlehampton than 
ours. 

Stephen. 
Sssh, sssh ! 



136 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
" two members of which " 

Ann. 
The Mockfoids were an older family — but where are 
the Mockfords .? 

James. 
[To Ann.] Give me a chance, Ann. [Continuing.'] 

" two members of which have been for many years 

prominently associated with the temperance movement 
in this town." 

Stephen. 
[Rising.] My brother James and myself. 

James. 
[Standing at the table, facing Elkin atid Vallance, 
in his oratorical inanne?'.] Twelve years ago, gentlemen, 
I was instrumental in founding the Singlehampton and 
Claybrook Temperance League 

Louisa. 
Stephen was another of the founders. 

Stephen. 
[Joining ]k.UY.'S,.'\ I was another. 

James. 
And day in and day out I have devoted my best ener- 
gies to furthering the objects of the League in Single- 
hampton and \n Claybrook. 

Stephen. 
Very materially aided by the Times and Mirror, a tem- 
perance organ. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 137 

James. 
And I submit that it's holding us up to ridicule and 
contempt — holding us up to public obloquy and de- 
rision 

Vallance. 
[To James.] What is your objection to the paragraph, 
Mr. Mortimore ? 

James. 
Objection ! 

Elkin. 
There's more to come, I expect. 

James. 
\_Grim/y.'\ Aye, a bit more. [Sitting at the table.'] 
What d'ye think of this? [Reading.^ "When it is re- 
membered that the late Mr. Mortimore' s fortune was de- 
rived from the brewing and the sale of beer " 

Stephen. 
[Sitting beside James.] The word " beer" is in italics. 

Vallance. 
Oh, I see. 

James. 

" • it will be understood that our two distinguished 

fellow-townsmen are placed in an extremely difficult po- 
sition." 

Stephen. 
This is the most spiteful part of it. 

James. 
" We have no doubt, however, that, as conscientious 
men, they will prove fully equal to the occasion by either 
renouncing their share of their late brother's property or 



138 THE THUNDERBOLT 

by dedicating it entirely to the advancement of the cause 
they have at heart." [ Throwmg the ^lewspaper to Elkin 
flw</ Vallance.] There it is, gentlemen. 

\_In wa7idenng 7'ound the 7'oom, Ponting has come 
upoti the decanter of wine and the wine-glasses 
stariding on the sideboard. He is now filling a 
glass. 

Ponting. 
Every man has a right to his convictions. \_Taki?tg the 
glass in his hand.'] A little alcohol hurts nobody 

James. 
You won't find any in my house. 

Ponting. 
What's this, then? 

James. 
Currant. 

Ponting. 

[^Replacing the glass, with a wry face,] My dear 

Mortiuiore ! 

\^He sits at the right-ha7id end of the table, beside 
Elkin, a7id pries at the docu77ients which Elkin 
has take7i from his bag. Vallance and Elkin 
are 7'eadi7ig the paragraph together, Vallance 
drawi7ig his chair closer to Elkin' s for that 
purpose. 

James. 
\To Vallance.] Well, what's your opinion, Mr. Val- 
lance ? Is that libellous, or isn't it ? 

Stephen. 
Does it, or does it not, go beyond the bounds of fair 
comment — eh, Mr. Elkin ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 139 

Vallance. 
\_FaciJically.'] Oh. but aren't you attaching a great deal 
too much hnportance to this ? 

JAxMES. 

Too much ! 

Elkin. 
Why not ignore it ? 

Stephen. 
Ignore it ! 

Vallance. 
Treat it as a piece of pure chaff — badinage 

Elkin. 
In more or less bad taste. 

Vallance. 
Take no notice of it whatever. 

James. 
\^Rismg and walking away to the fireplace.'] Take no 
notice of it ! The townspeople will talce notice of it pretty 
quickly. 

Stephen. 
\^Rismg.'] In my opinion, that paragraph renders our 
position in the League absolutely untenable. 

James. 

[^Standing over Vallance.] Unless that paragraph is 
apologized for, withdrawn 

Stephen. 

[Standing over Elkin.] Explained away 



140 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
Aye, explained away 

Vallance. 
I don't see how it can be explained away. 

Elkin. 
[_Dry/y.'\ The proposition is a perfectly accurate one, 
whatever you may think of the corollary. 

Vallance. 
You are ardent advocates of temperance. 

Elkin 
Your late brother's property was amassed mainly by 
beer, 

Vallance. 
It can hardly be explained away. 

Stephen. 
\_lVaikmg to the /eft.'] Good heavens above, I've ex- 
plained things away often enough in my paper ! 

James. 
l^Coming foj'ward 07i the right.] This does us at the 
League, then — does us ; knocks our influence into a cocked 
hat. 

Elkin. 
[77? James and Stephen, while V all auce fo/ds the 
paper.] After all, gentlemen, when you come to reflect 
upon it, the laugh is \^\\}i\you. 

James. 
Is it ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 141 

Elkin. 
\_Geniaily.'] The Courier has its little joke, hvXyouve 
got the money, remember. 

James. 
Oh, that's true. 

Stephen. 
\_Walki7ig about on the left.] That's true ; that's true. 

James. 
[ Walking about on the right, rattling his loose cash^ 
Aye, we've got the mopuses. 

Rose. 
[ Tilting her chair on its hind legs. ~\ I say, Jim — Stephen 
— why don't you two boys, between you, present the 
League with a handsome hall ? 

James. 
[^Pausing in his walk.~\ Hall ? 

Rose. 
Build the temperance folk a meeting-place of their own 
— a headquarters 

PONTING. 

[^Mischievously.'] He, he, he! That 'ud smooth 'em 
down. Capital idea, Rosie ! 

James a7id Stephen. 
We! 

James. 
I'd see 'em damned first, [To the ladies.] I beg par- 
don 



142 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Ann. 
\_Wiih unusual animation^ No, no ; you're quite right, 
James. 

Stephen. 
\_At the jireplaceT)^ That would be playing into Mr. 
Hammond's hands with a vengeance. 

James. 
\yValking across to the left, derisively. '\ Ha ! Wouldn't 
Hammond crow, liey ! Ha, ha, ha! 

Stephen. 
No, if the situation becomes too acute — painful as it 
would be to me — I shall resign. 

James. 
\Determinedly. ] Re sig n . 

Stephen. 
Sever my connection with the League. 

James. 
Leave 'em to swill themselves with their lemonade and 
boiled tea ! 

Stephen. 
\Coming forward on the right.'] And to find out how 
they get on without us. 

James. 
Serve 'em up in their own juice ! 

Stephen. 
[^Meeting James in the middle of the room on the nearer 
side of the difting- table.'] You know, Jim, we've never 
gone quite so far — you and I — with the principles of tem- 
perance as some. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 143 

James. 
[^Eyeing him curiously. ~\ Never gone so far ? 

Stephen. 
As old Bob Amphlett, for example — never. 

James. 
Oh, yes, we have, and a deuced sight further. 

Stephen. 
Excuse me — I've always been for moderation rather 
than for total abstinence. 

James. 
Have yer? \_Walking away to the left.'] First I've 
heard of it. 

Stephen. 
Anyhow, a man may broaden his views with years 
and experience. \Argumentatively.'\ Take the hygienic 
aspect of the case. Only the other day. Sir Vincent 
West, probably the ablest physician in England 

Louisa. 
{^Abruptly.l Stephen ! 

Stephen. 
[/4;7^r//y.] Don't interrupt me. 

Louisa. 
{With energy, rising.'] I've maintained it throughout 
my life — it's nothing new from my lips 

Stephen. 

What ? 

Louisa. 
There are two sides to every question. 



144 THE THUNDEEBOLT 

Stephen. 

\_Hurryi?ig roufid the table to join Louisa.] Exactly — 
exactly — as Lou says 

Louisa. 
It's been almost a second religion with me. I've 
preaclied it in season and out of season 

Stephen, 
\_With conviction.'\ There at'e two sides 

Louisa. 
Two sides to every question. 

James. 

[ To Ann, pointing to the door.'] Mother [ The door 

has been opened by aftother maid-servant, who carries a 
tray on which are a plated kettle, a dish of toast, and a 
plentiful supply of bread-and-butter. The girl 7'enuiins ift 
the doorway. Ann 7'ises and goes to her a7id takes the 
kettle from the tray. James conies forward and seats 
Jiimself on the nearer side of the diniiig-table in the middle 
chair^ Look here ; I don't wait another minute for the 
Tads — not a second. 



Ah 



Ponting. 

[Louisa follows Ann and takes the toast and the 
bread-a7id-butter from the servant, who then 
disappears, closing the door, 

Stephen. 
\^Again sittifig in the further chair at the left-hand end 
of the dini^ig-table.] Inexcusable of them — inexcusable. 
[Ann ami Louisa come to the tea-table and, draw- 
ing the two ar/nchairs up to it, seat themselves 



THE THUNDERBOLT 145 

ayid prepare the tea. The kettle is set upon the 
stand, the spirit-lamp is lighted, Ann measures 
the tea from the caddy into the pot, and LouiSA 
cuts the plum-cake. 

James. 
Mr. Elkin— Mr. Vallance 

PONTING. 

Now, Mr. Vallance ; now, Mr. Elkin! 

Elkin. 
[7c; Vallance.] Will you ? 

Vallance. 
No, no — you 

Elkin. 
Well, gentlemen— [A? Rose] Mrs. Ponting — Mr. Val- 
lance and I have to report to you that we've received no 
communication of any kind in answer to our circulars 
and advertisements 

James. 
\To Ann, who is makijig a clatter with the kettle.'] 
Steady, mother ! 

Ponting. 
[7^ the ladies at the tea-table.'] Sssh, sssh, sssh ! 

Elkin. 
No communication from any solicitor who has pre- 
pared a will for your late brother, nor from anybody who 
has knowingly witnessed a will executed by him. 

Stephen. 
Mr. Vallance has apprised us of this already. 



146 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[^Raising a hand.'] Order ! There's a formal way of 
doing things and a lax way. 

Stephen. 

I merely mentioned 

[PONTING 7'aps the table sharp/y with his knuckles. 

Elkin. 
I may say that, in addition to the issuing of the cir- 
culars and advertisements, I have made search in every 
place I could thmk of, and have inquired of every person 
likely to be of help in the matter. In fact, I've taken 
every possible step to find, or trace, a will. 

Vallance. 
Without success. 

Elkin. 
Without success. 

^ James. 

{^Magnanimously.'] And / say that the family bears no 
grudge to Mr. Elkin for doing his duty. 

Stephen. 
[/« the same spirit.'] Hear, hear ! 

PONTING. 

{Testily.] Of course not ; of course not. 

Rose. 
It's all the more satisfactory, it seems to me, that he 
has worried round. 

James. 
The family thanks Mr. Elkin. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 147 

Stephen. 
We thank Mr. Elkin. 

Elkin. 
\_After a stiff inclination of the kead.~\ The only other 
observation I wish to make is that several gentlemen em- 
ployed in the office of the brewery in Linchpool have at 
different times witnessed the late Mr. Mortimore's signa- 
ture to documents which have apparently required the 
attestation of two witnesses. 

PONTING. 

\_Curtly.'] That amounts to nothing. 

James. 
There are a good many documents, aren't there, where 
two witnesses are required to a signature ? 

Elkin. 
Deeds under seal, certainly. 

Stephen. 

I remember having to sign, some years ago 

[PONTiNG again raps the table. 

Vallance. 
But none of these gentlemen at the brewery can recall 
that any particular document appeared to him to be a 
will, which is net a document under seal. 

James. 
Besides, a man signing a will always tells the witnesses 
that it is his w-ill they're Avitnessing, doesn't he, Mr. Val- 
lance ? 

Vallance. 
A sohcitor would, in the ordinary course of practice, 



148 THE THUNDERBOLT 

inform the witnesses to a will of the nature of the docu- 
ment they were attesting, undoubtedly. 

Elkin. 
Granted ; but a testator, supposing he were executing 
his will in his own house or office, and not in the presence 
of a solicitor, is under no legal necessity to do so, and 
may omit to do so. 

James. 
\Rolling about in his chair.'] Oh, well, we needn't 

PONTING. 

[^Looking at his watch.'] In heaven's name ! 

Stephen. 
We needn't go into all this. 

Elkin. 
No, no ; I simply draw attention to the point. {Unfold- 
ing a document^ Well, gentlemen— Mrs. Pouting— this 
is a statement — \_handing ajiother document to VallanCeJ 
here is a copy of it, Mr. Vallance— this is a statement of 
particulars of stocks, shares, and other items of estate, 
with their values at the death of the late Mr. Mortimore, 
and a schedule of the debts so far as they are known to 
me. 

\There is a general 7noveinent. James rises and 
goes to Vallance. Stephen also rises, stretch- 
ing out an eager hand towards Vallance. 
Rose draws 7iearer to the table, Ponting still 
closer to Elkin. Ann and Louisa, too, show 
a dispositio7i to desert the tea-table. 

James. 
[ To Ann, as he passes her.] You get on with the tea, 
mother. [Ti? Vallance.] Allow me, Mr. Vallance 



THE THUNDERBOLT 149 

[Vallance ^ives him the duplicate of the state- 
ment. 

PONTING. 

What's it come out at ; what's it come out at ? 

Stephen. 
What's it come out at ? 

Rose. 
Yes, what does it come out at ? Jim 

Stephen. 

Jim 

[James y^zVw Stephen and they examine the dupli- 
cate together. Rose rises and endeavors to read 
it with them. 

Elkin. 
I estimate the gross value of the estate, whicli, as you 
will see, consists entirely of personal property, at one 
hundred and ninety-two thousand pounds. 

Ponting. 
The gross value. 

Stephen. 
Yes, but what do we get ? 

Ponting ^w^^Rose. 
What do we get ? 

James. 
After all deductions. 

Elkin. 
Roughly speaking, after payment of debts, death 
duties, and expenses, there will be about a hundred and 



150 TEE THUNDERBOLT 

seventy thousand pounds to divide. \Those who are 
standing sit again. James seats himself ?iext to Stephen 
and, with pen and ink, they make calcuhitions ofi paper. 
PONTING does the same. Rose, dosing her eyes, fans her- 
self happily, a)id the two ladies at the tea-table resume their 
preparations with beaming countenances. Elkin leans 
back in his chair.'] Mr. Vallance 

Vallance. 
[ To Rose, James, and Stephen.] Mrs. Ponting and 
gentlemen — [Ponting raps the table and James and 
Stephen look up] I advise you that, as next-of-kin of 
the late Mr. Mortimore, if you are satisfied — and in my 
opinion you may reasonably be satisfied — that he died 
intestate — I advise you that any one or more of you, not 
exceeding three, [the door opens quietly and Thaddeus 
appears. He is very pale, but is outwardly calm, /^fter a 
look in the direction of the table, he closes the door-] may 
apply for Letters of Administration of your late brother's 
estate. It isn't necessary or usual, however, I may tell 
you, to have more than one administrator, and I sug- 
gest 

[Hearing the click of the lock as Thaddeus shuts 
the door, everybody turns and glances at him. 

Rose. 
\_Opening her eyes.] Here's Tad. 

Stephen. 
[Gru7npily.] Oh 

Rose. 
[7^^55/;z^ Thaddeus a greeting.] Hallo! 

James. 
[7b Thaddeus, with a growl.] Oh, you've arrived. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 151 

Stephen. 
[To Thaddeus.] Did I say four or half-past ? 

Louisa. 
Where's Phyllis ? 

Ann. 
Where's Phyllis? 

Thaddeus. 
\_In a low voice, advancing.'] She— she didn't feel well 

enough 

[PONTING raps the inkstand with his penholder. 

James. 
[PointiJig to the chair beside him, imperatively.] Sit 
down ; sit down. [Thaddeus sits, his elbows on the table, 
his eyes cast down 7] Mr. Vallance ^ 

Vallance. 
\To Thaddeus.] Good-afternoon, Mr. Mortimore. 

Elkin. 
[Nodding to Thaddeus.] How d'ye do ? 

Thaddeus. 
[Almost inaiidibly.] Good -afternoon. 

Vallance. 
[To the others.] I suppose we needn't go back ? 

A Murmur. 
No, no ; no, no. 

James. 

[Pushing the duplicate of the statement under Thad- 
deus' s eyes.] A hundred and seventy thousand pound to 
divide. 



152 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
A hundred and seventy thousand. 

PONTING. 

\Finishing his sum.~\ Forty -two thousand five hundred 
apiece. 

Vallance. 
\_Resu7nmg.'] I was saying that it isn't usual to have 
more than one administrator, and I was about to suggest 
that the best course will be for you, Mr. James, to act in 
that capacity, and for you, Mr. Stephen, and you. Mr. 
Thaddeus, or one of you, and Colonel Pouting, to be the 
sureties to the bond for the due administration of the 
estate. 

James. 
[Cheerfully .'] I'm in your hands, Mr. Vallance. 

Stephen. 
I'm agreeable. 

PONTING. 

And I. 

Vallance. 
The procedure is this— perhaps I'd better explain it. 
[Producing a form of'' Oath for Administrators'' which is 
ajnoiig his papers. '\ The intended administrator will make 
an affidavit staUng when and where the deceased died, 
that he died intestate, [Thaddeus looks up\ a bachelor 
without a parent, and that the deponent is a natural and 
lawful brother and one of the next-of-kin of the de- 
ceased 

Thaddeus. 
[Touching Vallance' s tzrw.] Mr. Vallance 



% 

THE THUNDERBOLT 153 

Vallance. 
Eh? 

Thaddeus. 
We — we mustn't go on with this. 

Vallance. 
I beg pardon ? 

Thaddeus. 
The family mustn't go on with this. 

Vallance. 
Mustn't go on ? 

James. 
[7^ Thaddeus.] What a'yer talking about? 

Thaddeus. 
\_After a hurried look round. '\ There — there was a 
will. 

Vallance. 
A will ? 

Thaddeus. 
He — he made a will. 

James. 
Who did ? 

Thaddeus. 
Edward. He — he left a will. 

James. 
\ Roughly. '\ What the ! 



154 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
\_To James, interrupting /iini.'\ One moment. Your 
brother has something to say to us, Mr. Mortimore. 

Stephen. 
What — what's he mean by ? 

Elkin. 
\_To Stephen.] Please— [77? Thaddeus.] Yes, sir? 
[Thaddeus is silent.~\ What about a will ? [Thaddeus 
is still silent. ~\ Eh ? 



I — 1 saw it. 
Saw a will ? 



Thaddeus. 
Elkin. 



Thaddeus. 
I — 1 opened it — I — I read it 

Elkin. 
Read it ? 

Thaddeus. 
I — tore it up — got rid of it. 

\_Again there is silence, the M.ORTlMOViY.s and the 
Fontings sitti7ig open-mouthed and motionless. 

Elkin. 
l^After a while.'] Mr. Vallance, I think we ought to tell 
Mr. Mortimore that he appears to be making a confession 
of the gravest kind 

Vallance. 
Yes. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 155 

Elkin. 
One that puts him in a very serious position. 

Vallance. 
[To Thaddeus, after a further pause.'] Mr. Morti- 

more ? 

[Thaddeus makes no response. 

Elkin. 

If, understanding that, he chooses to coniitiue, there is 
nothing to prevent our hearing him. 

Thaddeus. 
\_tooking^ straight before him, his arms still tipon the 
table, locking and unlocking his hands as he speaks.] It — 
it happened on the Wednesday night — in Cannon Row — 
in Ned's house— the night before he died— the night we 
were left without a nurse. \_Another pause. Vallance 
takes a sheet of paper and selects a pen. Elkin pushes the 
inkstand nearer to him.] Mrs. James — and — and Mrs. 

Stephen — my — my sisters-ia-law 

[Ann a7id Louisa get to their feet and advance a 
step or two. 

Elkin. 
[Hearing the rustle of their skirts and turning to them.] 
Keep your seats, ladies, please. 

[They sit agaiji, drawiyig their chairs close together. 

Thaddeus. 
My sisters-in-law had gone home — that is, to their 
hotel — to get a few hours' sleep in case of their having to 
sit up through the night. Jim and Stephen and I were 
out and about, trying to find a night-nurse who'd take 
Nurse Ralston' s place temporarily. At about nine 
o'clock, I looked in at Cannon Row, to see how things 
were getting on. 



156 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Vallance. 
[IV/to z's writing.'] The Wednesday? Mr. Edward 
Mortimore dying on Thursday, the twentieth of June 

Elkin. 
On the morning of Thursday, the twentieth. 

Vallance. 
That makes the Wednesday we are speaking of, Wed- 
nesday, June the nineteenth. 

Elkin. 
\_To Thaddeus.] You looked in at Cannon Row ? 

Vallance. 
At about nine o'clock on the night of Wednesday, June 
the nineteenth. 

Thaddeus. 
I — I went up-stairs and sat by Ned's bed, and by and 
by he began talking to me about — about Phyllis. He — 
he'd taken rather a fancy to her, he said, and he wanted 
to give her a memento — a keepsake. 

Elkin. 

PhylHs ? 

Vallance. 
[7^^ Elkin.] His wife. [7i(7 Thaddeus.] Your wife? 

[Thaddeus 7wds. 

Elkin. 
^^Recollecting.'] Of course. 

Thaddeus. 
\Moisteni7ig his lips with his tojigue.] He — he had 
some little bits of jewelry in his safe, and he — he asked 
me to go down-stairs and — and to bring them up to him. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 157 

Elkin. 
[Keeniy.'] In his safe? 

Vallance. 
The safe in the library ? 

[Thaddeus 7tods again. 



Quite so. 
And — er 



Elkin. 



Vallance. 



Thaddeus. 

He — he gave me his keys, and I — I went down — I 

\He stops suddenly and Vallance glances at him. 
Aoticing his extreme pallor, Vallance looks 
round ike room. Seeing the water-bottle upofi 
the sideboard, Vallance rises and Jills the 
tumbler. Retunmig to the table, he places the 
glass before Thaddeus ami resuities his seat. 

Thaddeus. 
{After a gulp of tuater.'] It was — it was in the drawer 
of the safe — the drawer 

Elkin. 

What was ? 

Thaddeus. 
\_lViping his mouth with his handkerchief] A large 
envelope — a large envelope — the envelope containing the 
will. 

Vallance. 
How did you know ? 



158 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
" My Will " was written on it. 

Vallance. 
IWritmg.'] " My Will " 

Elkin. 

On the envelope ? [Thaddeus nods."] You say you 
opened it ? 

[Thaddeus noci^s. 

Vallance. 
Opened the envelope 

Elkin. 
And inside — you found ? 

Vallance. 
What did you find ? 

Thaddeus. 
Ned's will. 

Vallance. 
[PFr//m^.] What appeared to be your brother Ed- 
ward's will. 

Elkin. 
You read it? [Thaddeus fio^fs.^ You recollect who 
was interested under it ? [Thaddeus nods.^ Will you 

tell us ? 

\_T/ie MoRTiMORES and the Pontings crane their 
necks forward, listening breathlessly. 

Thaddeus. 
He left everything — \Jaking another gulp of water'] 
everything — to Miss Thornhill. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 159 

\There is a slight, undecided movement on the part 
of the MoRTiMORES and the Pontings. 

Elkin. 
\_Caljniy but firndy7[ Keep your seats ; keep your 
seats, please. \_To Thaddeus.] Can you recall the gen- 
eral form of the will ? 

Thaddeus. 
[Straining his memory.'\ Everything he had — died pos- 
sessed of — to Helen Thornhill — spinster — of some ad- 
dress in Paris — absolutely. And — and he appointed her 
his sole executrix. 

Elkin. 
Do you recollect the date ? 

Thaddeus. 

Date ? 

Elkin. 
Did you observe the date of the will ? 

Thaddeus. 
[Quickly P^ Oh, yes ; it was made three years ago. 

Elkin. 
[ To Vallance.] When she came of age. 

Thaddeus. 
Oh, and he asked her to remember his servants — old 
servants at the brewery and in Cannon Row. [Leaning 
back, exhausted.'] There was nothing else. It was very 
short — written by Ned 

Elkin. 
The whole of it? [Thaddeus nods, with half-closed 
eyes.'] The whole of it was in his handwriting .? [Thad- 



160 THE THUNDERBOLT 

DEUS Jiods a^am.~\ Ah ! \_7o Vallance, zczVi a note of 
triumph in his voice.'] A holograph will, Mr. Vallance, 
prepared by the man himself. 

Vallance, 
\_A^oiu taking up the questioning of Thaddeus.] Tell 
me, Mr. Mortimore — have you any exact recollection as 
to whether this document, which you describe as a will, 
was duly signed and witnessed ? 

Thaddeus. 
\_Rousing himself] It was — it was — signed by Ned. 

Vallance. 
Was it signed, not only by your brother, but by two 
witnesses under an attestation clause stating that the 
testator signed in the joint presence of those witnesses 
and that each of them signed in his presence ? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I don't recollect that. 

Vallance. 
{^Writing.'] You've no recollection of that. 

[James, Stephen, and Ponting stir thetnselves. 

James. 
\_Hoarsely.'] He doesn't recollect that, Mr. Vallance. 

Stephen. 
[/;« quavering tones.'] No, he — he doesn't recollect 
that. 

Ponting. 

[^Putting at his rnousiache with trembling fingers i\ 
That's most important, Mr. Vallance, isn't it — isn't it? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 161 

Vallance. 
[ 7o TuADDEUS, noi heeding the inlerruptiofi.'] You say 
you destroyed this document 

Elkin. 
Tore it up. 

Vallance. 
When — and where? In the room — in the Hbrary ? 

Thaddeus. 
\Thinking.'\ N-no— out of doors. 

Vallance. 
Out of doors. When? 

Thaddeus. 
[^/ a loss.l When ? 

Vallance. 
When. \Looking at him in surprise^ You can't re- 
member ? 

Thaddeus. 
\RecoUecting.'\ Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Some time be- 
tween ten and eleven on the Thursday morning, after I 
left Phyllis — after I left my wife at Roper's to be meas- 
ured for her black. 

Vallance. 
llVrttmg.^ What did you do then? 

Thaddeus. 
[I^eadi/y.^ I went to Ford Street bridge, and tore up 
the paper, and dropped the pieces into the Linch. 

Vallance. 
[ Writing. ] Into the river 



162 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
One more question, Mr. Mortimore — to make yourmo- 
tive perfectly clear to us. May we assume that, on the 
night of June the nineteenth, you were sufficiently ac- 
quainted with the law of intestacy to know that, if this 
dying man left no will, you would be likely to benefit 
considerably ? 

Thaddeus. 
Well, I— I had— the idea 

Elkin. 
The idea? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I \_Recoliectmg.'] Oh, yes ; there'd been a dis- 
cussion in the train, you see, on the Tuesday, going to 
Linchpool 



Elkin. 



Discussion ? 



Thaddeus. 
Among us all, as to how a man's money is disposed of, 
if he dies intestate. 

Elkin. 
\_Nodding.'] Precisely. [77? James ^/zrt' Stephen.] You 
remember that conversation taking place, gentlemen ? 

James. 
Oh, I — I dessay. 

Elkin. 
[To Thaddeus.] So that, when you came upon the en- 
velope with the endorsement upon it — " My Will " ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 163 

Thaddeus. 
\_Lea7iing his head upoji his hands.'] Yes — yes 

Vallance. 

[^Runnifig his eyes over his notes, to Thaddeus.] Have 
you anything to add, Mr. Mortimore .'' 

Thaddeus. 
\_In a muffled voice. ] No. \(2uickly.'\ Oh, there is one 
thing I should hke to add. ^Bi'okenly.] With regard to 
Miss Thornhill — I — I hope you'll bear in mind that I — 
that none of us — heard from Mr. Elkin of the existence 
of a child — a daughter — till the Thursday — middle- 
day 

Elkin. 
That is so. 

Thaddeus. 
It doesn't make it much better ; only — a girl — alone in 
the world — one wouldn't — {breaking off] no, I've noth- 
ing more to say. 

Elkin. 
\To Thaddeus.] And we may take it that your pres- 
ent act, Mr. Mortimore, is an act of conscience, purely ? 
[Thaddeus ijiclines his head. There is silence 
again, the Mortimores and the Pontings 
presenting a picture of utter wretchedness. The 
ladies tears begin to flow. 

James, 
{After a time, speaking with some difficulty 7] Well 

Stephen. 
{PiteouslyT] Mr. Vallance ? 



164 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
What — what's to be done, Mr. Vallance? 

PONTING. 

\_To the ladies.'] For God's sake, be quiet ! 

James. 
\_A clenched fist on the table.] What we want to know 
is — what we want to know is — who does my brother 
Edward's money belong to now — her qx us ? 

Stephen. 
\_hi agony.] Her ! 

PONTING. 

Don't be a damn fool, Mortimore ! 

Vallance. 
Well, gentlemen, I confess I am hardly prepared to 
express an opinion off-hand on the legal aspect of the 
case 

PONTING. 

The will's torn up — it's destroyed ! 

Stephen. 
It's destroyed — gone — gone ! 

PONTING. 

Gone. 

Vallance. 
But I need not remind you, there is another aspect 

PONTING. 

I don't care a rap for any other aspect 



THE THUNDERBOLT 165 

Stephen. 
We want the iaiu explained to us — the law 

PONTING. 

The law ! 

James. 
[J^Elkin.] Air. Elkin ? 

Elkin. 
You appeal to me, gentlemen ? 

Stephen and Ponting. 
Yes — yes 

Elkin. 
Then I feel bound to tell you that / shall advise Miss 
Thornhill, as the executrix named in the will, to apply to 
the Court for probate of its substance and effect 

Vallance. 
\_To Elkin.] Ask the Court to presume the will to 
have been made in due form ? 

Elkin. 
Decidedly. 

[Stephen a7id Ponting /«// back in their seats 
in a stupor, and once more there is silence, 
broken only by the soujid of the wotnen snivel- 
ing. Elkin and Vallance slowly proceed 
to collect their papers. 

James. 
{^Turning upon Thaddeus, brutally.^ Have you — have 
you told PhyUis — have you told your wife what you've 
been up to ? 



166 THE THUNDERBOLT 

\_At the mention of Phyllis, there is a movement 
of indignation on the part of the ladies. 

Rose. 
Ha! 

James. 
[7<? Thaddeus.] Have yer? 

Thaddeus. 
Y-yes — just before I came out. \_Weakly?^ That — that's 
what made me so late. 

James. 
\Betiveen his teeth.'] What does she think of yer? 

Thaddeus. 
Oh, she — she's dreadfully — cut up — of course. 

Rose. 
\_Hystericai/y.'] The jewelry ! Ha, ha, ha ! [^Rising."] 
She's managed to get hold of some of the jewelry, at 
any rate. 

Ann. 
\_With a sob.] Yes, she — she managed that, 

Louisa. 
{^Mopping her face.] She's kept that from us artfully 
enough. 

Rose. 

\(}oing over to Ann and Louisa, who rise to receive 
her.] Ha, ha! Edward's "little bits" of jewelry ! 

Ann. 
Little bits ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 167 

Rose. 
They're little bits that are /efi. 

Louisa. 
How many did she have of them, I wonder! 

Rose. 
She shall be made to restore them 

Louisa. 
Every one of them. 

Thaddeus. 

No, no, no \_Stretching out a hand towards the 

ladies.'] Rosie — Ann — Lou — Phyllis hadn't any of the 
jewelry — not a scrap. I put it all back into the safe. I 
— I swear she hadn't any of it. 

Elkin. 

Why did you do that? 

Thaddeus. 
\_Ac^^itatedly.'\ Why, you see, Mr. Elkin, when I carried 
it up-stairs, I found my brother Edward in a state of col- 
lapse — a sort of faint 

Elkin. 
[ With a nod.] Ah 

Thaddeus. 
And Phyllis — my wife — she sent me off at once for 
the doctor. It was on rhe Wednesday evening, you 
know 

Vallaxce. 
\_Pricking up his ears.] Your wife, Mr. Mortimore ? 



168 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
It was on the Wednesday evening that the change 
set in. 

Vallance. 
• {To Thaddeus.] Your wife sent you off at once ? 

Thaddeus. 
\_To Vallance.] To fetch the doctor. 

Vallance. 
\_Raismg his eyebrows.'] Oh, Mrs. Mortimore was in the 
house Willie all this was going on .? 

Thaddeus. 
Y-yes; she was left in charge of him — in charge of 

Ned 

Elkin. 

[7^ Vallance, i?i explanation?!^ To allow these other 
ladies to rest, preparatory to their taking charge later. 

Thaddeus. 
Yes. 

Vallance. - 
I hadn't gathered 

James. 
[ Who had been sittitig glaring i?tfo space, thoughtfully?] 
Hold hard. [7^ Thaddeus.] K?/^ didn't go for the doc- 
tor. 

Thaddeus. 
Yes, I — I went 



THE THUNDERBOLT 169 

Stephen. 
\_Awakening from his trance.'] Phyllis sent the cook for 
the doctor. 

Thaddeus. 
Yes, yes ; you're quite right. The cook was the first 
to go 

Elkin. 
[ To Thaddeus.] You followed ? 

Thaddeus. 
I followed. 

Jajmes. 
{^Knitting his brows.~\ It must have been a good time 
afterwards. 

Thaddeus. 
Y-yes, perhaps it was. 

James. 
I was at Dr. Oswald's when the woman arrived. The 
doctor was out, and 

Vallance. 
[-7^ Thaddeus.] You said your wife sent you at once. 

Thaddeus. 
Told me to go at once. There — there was the jewelry 
to put back into the safe 

Vallance. 
\_Eyeing Thaddeus.] What time was it when you got 
to the doctor's? 

Thaddeus. 
Oh — ten, I should say — or a quarter-past. 



170 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[Shaking his head.'] No. I sat there, waiting for Dr. 
Oswald to come in 

Stephen. 
\_To Thaddeus.] Besides, that couldn't have been ; 
you were with me then. 

James. 
[To Stephen.] Was he ? 

Stephen. 
Why, yes; he and I were at the Nurses' Home in 
Wharton Street from half-past nine till ten. 

James. 
Half-past nine ? 

Stephen. 
[Becojning more confident as he proceeds.] And we 
never left each other till we went back to Cannon Row. 

Vallance. 
Let us understand this 

Ponting. 

[Who has gradually revived, eagerly.] Yes — yes — [to 
the ladies] Sssh ! 

Stephen. 
And, what's more, we allowed ourselves a quarter of 
an hour to walk to Wharton Street. 

James. 
[Quietly, looking round.] Hallo ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 171 

Thaddeus. 
It — it's evident that I — that I'm mistaken in thinking 
that I — that I went to Dr. Oswald's 

Vallance. 
Mistaken ? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I suppose that, as the woman had already gone, 

I — I considered it — wasn't necessary [ To Elkin and 

Vallance, passing his hand befo?-e his eyes.'] You must 
excuse my stupidity, gentlemen. 

Vallance. 
[ To Thaddeus, distrustfully.'] Then, according to your 
brother Stephen, Mr. Mortimore, you were in Cannon 
Row, on the occasion of this particular visit, no longer 
than from nine o'clock till a quarter-past ? 

Stephen. 
Not so long, because we met, by arrangement, at a 
quarter-past nine, in the hall of the Grand Hotel ■ 

James. 
The hotel's six or seven minutes' walk from Cannon 
Row 

PONTING. 

Quite, quite. 

Thaddeus. 
\A little wildly.'] I said I called in at Cannon Row at 
about nine o'clock. It may have been half-past eight ; it 
may have been eight 

James. 
Ann and Lou didn't leave Cannon Row till past 
eight 



172 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Louisa. 
{Standing, with Ann and Rose, by the tea-table.l It 
had gone eight 

James. 
I walked 'em round to the Grand 

Stephen. 
Tlie three of us walked witli them to the Grand ! 

Louisa. 
All three 

James. 
So we did. 

Stephen. 
\_Excited/y.'\ And then Thaddeus went ofif to the Clar- 
ence Hospital with a note from Dr. Oswald 

James. 
By George, yes ! 

Stephen. 
I left him opposite the Exchange — it must have been 
nearly half-past eight then — ■■ — ! 

[James rises. The ladies draw nearer to the din- 
iiig- table. 

Thaddeus. 
Ah, but I didn't go to the hospital — I didn't go to the 
hospital 

Stephen. 
{Rising^ Yes, you did. You brought a note back 
from the hospital, for us to take to Wharton Street 



THE THUNDERBOLT 173 

Vallance. 
\To Elkin.] How far is the Clarence Hospital from 
the Exchange ? 

Elkin. 
A ten minutes' drive. It's on the other side of the 
water. 

Thaddeus. 
I — I — I'd forgotten the hospital 

James. 
{Scowling at Thaddeus.] Forgotten ? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I — I mean I — I thought the hospital came later — 
after I'd been to Wharton Street 

James. 
{Going to Vallance and tapping him on the shoiilderr\ 
Mr. Vallance 



Thaddeus. 
I — I must have gone to Cannon Row between my re- 
turn from the hospital and my meeting Stephen at the 
Grand 

James. 
{To Elkin a7id Vallance.] Why, he couldn't have 
done it, gentlemen 

PONTING. 

Impossible ! 

Stephen. 
It's obvious ; he conldn t have done it. 



174 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
I — I was only a few minutes at the hospital 

Elkin. 
\Scribbling on the back of a docunie7itr\ Oh, yes, he 
could have done it — barely 

Vallance. 
\JMaking a mental calculation. '\ Assuming that he left 
his brother at the Exchange at eight-twenty 

Elkin. 
Ten minutes to the hospital. 

Vallance. 
If he drove there 

Thaddeus. 
I did drive — I did drive 

PONTING. 

\\Vho is also figuring it out on paper.'] Ten minutes 
back 

Elkin. 
Ten minutes «/ the hospital 

PONTING. 

Eight-fifty 

Thaddeus. 
Eight-fifty in Cannon Row ! That was it — that was it, 
Mr. Elkin 

James. 
Give him twenty minutes in Cannon Row — give it 
him! He couldn't have done all he says he did in the 
time, gentlemen 



TEE THUNDERBOLT 175 



Stephen. 
He couldn't have done it 



PONTING. 



Impossible ! 



Elkin. 
[To PONTING.] No, no, please — not impossible. 

Vallance. 
\_To Stephen.] When you met Mr. Thaddeus Morti- 
more — you — when you met him in the hall of the Grand 
Hotel, before starting for Wharton Street, did he say any- 
thing to you as to his having just called at the house 1 

Stephen. 
No. 

Vallance. 

Nothing as to an alarming change in your brother's 
condition ? 

Stephen. 
Not a syllable. 

James. 
[To Elkin a«</ Vallance.] Oh, there's a screw loose 
here, gentlemen, surely ? 

Stephen. 
[yotning James.] That is most extraordinary, Mr. 
Vallance — isn't it? Not a syllable! 

[Ann and 'Louisa. Join their husbands and the four 
gather rou7id Elkin and Vallance. Rose 
stafids behind Ponting's chair. 



176 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
You see — Edward — Edward had rallied before I left 
Cannon Row. He — he'd fallen into a nice, quiet 
sleep 

James. 
All in twenty minutes, gentlemen — twenty minutes at 
the outside ! 

Vallance. 
[7(? Thaddeus.] Mr. Mortimore 

Ann. 
I remember 

PONTING. 
[To Ann.] Hold your tongue ! 

Vallance. 
Mr. Mortimore, who let you into the house in Cannon 
Row on the night of June the nineteenth 1 

PONTING. 

Ah, yes 

Vallance. 
At any time between the hours of eight o'clock ? 

Stephen. 
And eleven. 

Elkin. 
[ To Thaddeus.] Who gave you admittance — which of 
the servants ? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I can't — I diQ\\\—\blankly, addressmg Vallance] 
was it the — the butler ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 177 

Vallance. 
No, no ; I ask you. [To Elkin, who nods in reply.'] 
Have you the servants' addresses ? 

Thaddeus. 
But you wouldn't — you wouldn't trust to the servants' 
memories as to — as to which of them opened the front 
door to me a month ago ! \_PVitk an attempt at a laugh.] 
It's ridiculous ! 

Elkin. 
[Reprovingly^ Ah, now, now, Mr. Mortimore ! 

Thaddeus. 
[Startittg up from the table.] Oh, it isn't fair — it isn't 
fair of you to badger me like this ; it isn't fair ! 

Vallance. 
Nobody desires to " badger " you 

Thaddeus. 
Trip me up, then — confuse me. \At the left-hand end 
of the table, clutching the back of a chair 7] 1 lie will — the 
will's the main point — Ned's will. What does it matter — 
what can it matter, to a quarter of an hour or so — when 
I was in Cannon Row, or how long I was there ? One 
would think, by the way I'm being treated, gentlemen, 
that I'd something to gain by this, instead of everything 
to lose — everything to lose ! 

James. 
[Coming forward, on the further side of the table.] 
Don't you whine about \v\\2Xyouve got to lose ! 

Stephen. 
\jfoitiing him.] What about us 1 



178 THE THUNDERBOLT 

The Ladies. 
Us! 

PONTING. 

{^Hitting the table.'] Yes, confound you ! 

Vallance. 
Colonel Ponting ! 

Elkin. 
[7^ James <3;//<i Stephen.] It seems to me — if my friend 
Mr. Viillance will allow me to say so — that you are really 
bearing a little hardly on your brother Thaddeus. 

Thaddeus. 
[Gratefully.] Thank you, Mr. Elkin. 

Elkin. 
What reason — what possible reason can there be for 
doubting his good faith ? 

Thaddeus. 
Thank you. 

Elkin. 
Here is a man who forfeits a considerable sum of 
money, and deliberately places himself in peril, in order 
to right a wrong which nobody on earth would have sus- 
pected him of committing. Mr. Mortimore is accusing 
himself of a serious offense, not defending himself from it. 

Vallance. 
\_Obstmafely.'] What we beg of Mr. Mortimore to do, 
for the sake of all parties, is to clear up certain incon- 
sistencies in his story with his brothers' account of his 
movements and conduct on this Wednesday evening. 
We are entitled to ask that. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 179 

James. 
Aye — entitled. 

Stephen afid Ponting. 
Entitled. 

Elkin. 
\_To James and Stephen.] Yes, and Mr, Mortimore is 
equally entitled to refuse it. 

James, Stephen and Ponting. 
\Indignantly.'\ Oh ! 

Thaddeus. 
But I — I haven't refused. I — I've done my best 

Elkin. 
On the other hand, if he has no objection to her doing 
so, the person to assist you, I suggest — distressing as it 
may be to her — is the wife. 

Vallance. 

\Assentingly.'\ The wife 

[Thaddeus pushes aside the chair ivhich he is 
holding and comes to the table. 

Elkin. 
She ought to be able to satisfy you as to what time he 
was with her 

Vallance. 
\To everybody.'] By-the-bye, has she ever mentioned 
this visit of her husband's to Cannon Row ? 

Ann a7id Louisa. 
Never — never 



180 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
Attaching no importance to it. But now 

Thaddeus. 
{Stretching out a quivering hand to them a/L'] No. 
No, no. Don't you — don't you drag my wife into this. 
I — I won't have my wife dragged into this 

James. 
[/« a blaze.'] Why not ? 

Stephen. 
Why not ? 

The Ladies. 
\_Indignantly.'\ Ah ! 

Thaddeus. 
You — you leave my wife out of it-^ 

James. 
[Zi? Thaddeus, furiously.'] Who the hell's your 
wife ! 

Elkin and Vallance. 
Gentlemen — gentlemen 

Louisa. 

Who's Phylhs ! 

Ann. 

Who's she ! 

Rose. 
Ha! 

James and Stephen. 
[^Derisively.] Ha, ha, ha ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 181 

Thaddeus. 

Anyhow, I do object — I do object to your dragging 

her into it — \_/ns shoiv of courage flickering away\ I — 1 do 

object — [coming to the nearer side of the table, rather un- 

steadily\ Mr. Elkin— Mr. Vallance— I— I don't think I 

can be of any furtlier assistance to you to-day 

[Vallance shrugs his shoulders at Elkin. 

Elkin. 
[To Thaddeus, kindly.'] One minute — one minute 
more. Mr. Vallance has taken down your statement 
roughly. [7'^ Vallance.] If you'll read us your notes, 
Mr. Vallance, Mr. Mortimore will tell us whether they 
are substantially correct — [to Thaddeus] perhaps he will 

even be willing to attach his name to them 

[With a nod of patient acquiescence, Thaddeus 
siftks into the middle chair. Vallance pre- 
pares to read his notes, first making some 
additions to them. 

James. 
[To Thaddeus, /;'^/« the other side of the table.] Look 
here ! 

Thaddeus. 
[Feebly.] No — no more questions, I — I'm advised I 
— I may refuse 

James. 
Mr. Vallance asked you just now about your con- 
science 

Thaddeus. 
I — I'm not going to answer any more questions 

Stephen. 
[To James.] It was Mr. Elkin 



182 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
I don't care a curse which it was 

Thaddeus. 

No more questions 

James. 
\Leaning across the table towards Thaddeus, fiercely^ 
When the devil did your conscience begin to prick you 
over this ? Hey ? 

Stephen. 
\_To Thaddeus.] Yes, you've been in excellent spirits 
apparently this last month— excellent spirits. 

James. 
{Hammering on the table.'] Hey ? 

Stephen. 
{To Elkin aftd Vallance.] There was no sign of 
anything amiss when we were with him this afternoon, 
gentlemen — none whatever, I give you my word. 

James. 
Less than two hours ago— not a symptom ! 

Stephen 
{To James.] He was gay enough at the club dinner 
on Tuesday night. It was remarked — commented on. 

Louisa. 
[y?/ Stephen's elbow, unconsciously.'] It's Phyllis who's 
been ill all the month, not Thaddeus. 

James. 
{In the same way, with a hoarse laugh.] Ha ! If it had 
been his precious wife who'd come to us and told us this 
tale 



THE THUNDERBOLT 183 

Stephen. 
Yes, if it had been the lady 

James. 

If it had been \Struck by the idea which occurs to 

him, ] AUKS breaks off. TviAHUKUS doesft t stir. James, 
after a pause, thoughtfully.^ If it had been 

Stephen. 
{Holding his breath, to James.] Eh .? 

James. 
{Slowly stroking his beard.'] One might have — under- 
stood it 

Elkin. 
[ Who has been listening attentively, in a tone of polite 
interest.] How long has Mrs. Mortimore been indis- 
posed 1 

James. 
{Disturbed.] Oh — er — a few weeks 

Vallance. 
[ Quietly.] Ever since ? 

James. 
{IVith a nod.] Aye. 

[Elkin a/td Vallance look at each other in- 
quiringly. 

Stephen. 
{Staring into space.] Ever since — Edward — as a mat- 
ter of fact 

Rose. 
{Going to Ann «;?</ Louisa.] What's wrong with her ? 
What's wrong with his wife ? 



184 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Ann. 
\_Obtuseiy.'] She's not sleeping. 

Louisa. 

[Looking from one to the otherJ] No — she isn't 

\_jl7iere is a further pause, and then Thaddeus, 
slowly turning from the table, rises. 

Thaddeus. 

[In a strange voice, his hands fumbling at the buttons of 

his jacket.~\ Well, gentlemen— whatever my sins are — I 

— I decline to sit still and hear my wife insulted in this 

style. If it's all the same to you, I'll call round on Mr. 

Vallance in the morning and^and sign the paper 

[While Thaddeus is speaking, James and 
Stephen come forivard on the left, Elkin ajui 
Vallance on the right. 7 he three women get 
together at the back and look on with wide-open 
eyes. The movenwnt is made gradually and 
noiselessly , so that wJien Thaddeus tu7'ns to go 
he is startled at finding his way obstructed. 
After a time Ponting also leaves the table, 
watching the proceedings, with a falling jaw, 
from a little distance on the right. 

Elkin. 
[Rubbing his chin meditatively, to Thaddeus.] Mr. 
Mortimore, your wife traveled with you and the other 
members of the family to Linchpool on the Tuesday } 

James. 
Aye, she was with us 

Elkin. 
[To Thaddeus.] She was in the railway carriage when 
the — when the discussion arose ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 185 

Stephen. 
Yes, yes 

Elkin. 
The discussion as to where a man's money goes, in 
the absence of a will? 

Ann. 
\_Fro77t the other side of the table ^ Yes 

Louisa. 
\Close to Ann.] Of course she was. 

Elkin. 
. \_Nodding.'\ H'm. \To Thaddeus.] I— I am most 
anxious not to pain you unnecessarily. Er — the conver- 
sation you had with your brother Edward at the bedside, 
in reference to Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore — when he said 
that he— that he 

James. 
\Breathbig heavily. '\ He'd taken a fancy to her 

Elkin. 
That he wished to make her a present of jewelry — she 
was within hearing during that talk? 

Thaddeus. 
\jA'Voiding everybody s gaze, his hajids twitching invol- 
untarily at his side.'\ She — she may have been. 

Elkin. 
\_Piercingly.'] He was left in her charge, you know* 

Thaddeus. 
She — she was moving about the room 



186 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
She would scarcely have been far away from him. 

Thaddeus. 
\_Mohtening his lips with his lo?igii€.~\ N-no. 

Elkin. 
And when he handed you his keys and asked you to 
go down-stairs and open the safe — did she hear and wit- 
ness that also ? 

Thaddeus. 
She — she — very likely. 

Elkin. 
\_Raisifig his voice. '\ There was nothing at all confi- 
dential in this transaction between you and your brother? 

Thaddeus. 
Why — why should there have been ? 

Elkin, 
Why shoicid ihtvQ have been? [Coming- a step nearer 
to him.'\ So that, feeling towards her as he did, there 
was no reason why, if you hadn't chanced to be on the 
spot — there was no reason why he shouldn't have held 
that conversation with her, and intrusted her with the 
keys. 

Thaddeus. 
She — she was almost a stranger to him. He — he 
hadn't seen her since she was a child 

Elkin. 
[^Interrupting him.'] Tell us — this illness of Mrs. Morti- 
more's ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 187 

Thaddeus. 
My — my wife's a nervous, delicate woman — always has 
been 

Elkin. 
\_Nodding.'\ Quite so. 

Thaddeus. 
She — she was upset at being alone with Edward when 
he — wlien he swooned 

James. 
That was the tale 

Elkin. 
\_To Thaddeus] Although you happened to be in the 
library, a floor or two below, at the tune 

Thaddeus. 
He — he might have died suddenly, in her arms. She's 
a nervous, sensitive woman 

Elkin. 
\_A'oddmg.'] And she's been unwell ever since. [^IVtth 
aji abrupt change of in aimer. '\ Mr. Mortimore, how is the 
lock of the safe opened? 

Thaddeus. 
Opened ? 

Elkin. 

\_Sharply.'\ The safe in the library in Cannon Row — 
how do you open it? [Thaddeus is sdent.'] Is it a simple 
lock, or is there anything unusual about it? 

Thaddeus. 
He — he gave me directions how to open it. 



188 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 



Thaddeus. 
Elkin. 



Tell us 

I — I forget 

Forget ? 

Thaddeus. 
It — it's gone from me 

James. 
[/« a low voice.l Gentlemen, you couldn't forget 
that 

Stephen. 
[/« the same way.'] You coiildn t forget it 

Elkin. 

^To Thaddeus, solejimly.] Mr. Mortimore, are you 

sure that the conversation at the bedside didn't take place 

between your brother and your wife solely, and that it 

wasn't she who was sent down-stairs to fetch the jewelry ? 

Thaddeus. 
\_Drawing^ himself tip, with a last effort.] Sure ! 

Elkin. 
Are you positive that she didn't open the safe? 

Thaddeus. 
It — it's ridiculous 

Elkin. 
\^Q7iickly.'\ When you took her to Roper's, the 
draper's, on the Thursday — you left her there ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 189 

Thaddeus. 

Yes. I— I left her 

Elkin. 
Are you sure that she didn't then go on to the bridge, 
and tear up the will, and throw the pieces into the river? 

Thaddeus. 
I — I decline to answer any more questions 

Elkin. 
\Rahing his voice again.'\ Were you in Cannon Row, 
sir, on the night of June the nineteenth, for a single jno- 
inent between eight o'clock and eleven ? 

Thaddeus. 
\_Losing his head completely. '\ Ah ! Ah ! I know — I 
know ! You mean to drag my wife into this ! 

Elkin. 
[77? Thaddeus.] You were late in coming here this 
afternoon, Mr. Mortimore 

Thaddeus. 
\To Elkin, threateningly. '\ Don't you — don't you dare 
to do it ! 

Elkin. 
Owing, you say, to your having made a communica- 
tion to Mrs. Mortimore about this affair 

Thaddeus. 
\Clingi7ig to the chair which is behind him.~\ You — you 
leave my wife out of it ! 

Elkin. 
Are you sure that you were not delayed through hav- 
ing to receive a communication from her ? 



190 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
[^Dropping into the chair.'] Don't you — drag her — 
into it ! 

Elkin. 
Are you sure that the story you have told us, substitut- 
ing yourself for the principal person of that story , is not 
exactly the story which she has just ioXdyou? {There is 
a pause. Ponting^6'<?5 /^ Rose.] Mr. Vallance 

Vallance. 
Yes? 

Elkin. 
I propose to see Mrs. Mortimore in this matter, with- 
out delay. 

Vallance. 
Very good. 

Elkin. 
WiUyou ? 

Vallance. 

Certainly, 

\_Quieily, Vallance returns to the table and, seat- 
ing himself, again collects his -papers. Elk IN 
is following him. 



James. 
Elkin. 



Mr. Elkin 

{Stoppi7lg^^ Eh? 

James. 
Stealing a will — destroying a will — what is it ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 191 

Elkin. 



What is it ? 



James. 
The law — what's the law ? 

Elkin. 
[7(7 James.] I — I'm sorry to have to say, sir — it's a 
felony. 

Thaddeus. 

[ With a look of horror.'] Oh ! 

[Ann and Louisa come to James and Stephen 
hurriedly. Elkin sits beside Vallance, and, 
picki7ig up their bags from the floor, they put 
away their papers. 

James. 
{Standing over T\i^.TiYi^\^':^^^ Well! Are yer proud of 
her now ? 

Stephen. 
This is what his marriage has ended in ! 

Louisa. 
I'm not in the least surprised. 

Ann. 
Old Burdock's daughter ! 

Rose. 

{From the other side of the table.'] Thank heaven, my 
name isn't Mortimore ! 

Thaddeus. 
{Leaping to his feet i7t a f'enzy.] Don't you touch her ! 
Don't any of you touch her ! Don't you harm a hair of 
her head! {To the group on the left.] You've helped to 



192 THJC THUNDERBOLT 

bring this on her! You've helped to make her life unen- 
durable ! You've helped to bring her to this! She's 
been a good wife to me. Oh, my God, let me get her 
away! \_7'iirmng towards the door.'\ Mr. Elkin — Mr. 
Vallance — do let me get her away ! Don't you harm a 
hair of her head ! Don't you touch her I [At the door.'] 
She's been a good wife to me ! \_Ope71i71g the door atid 
disappearmg.'\ She's been a good wife to me ! 

James. 
[^Moving over to the right, shouting <^r/7<rT Tii A ddeus.] 
Been a good wife to you, lias she ! 

Stephen. 
\^Also moving to the right.] A disgrace — a disgrace to 
the family ! 

Louisa. 
\FoUo'wing Stephen.] I always said so — I said so till 
1 was tired 

James. 
We've helped to bring her to this ! 

Ann. 
{Sitting in a chair on the nearer side of the dining-table.] 
A vile creature ! 

PONTING. 

{Coming forward on the left with Rose.] Damn the 
woman ! Damn the woman ! My position is a cruel 
one 

Stephen. 
{Raising his ar7ns as he paces the room on the right.] 
Here's a triumph for Hammond ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 193 

James. 
[77? PONTING, conicinptuously.'\ F^/^r position ! 

Louisa. 
Nellie Robson's got the better of me now. 

PONTIXG. 

\To James.] I'm landed ^vith an enormous house in 
Carlos Place — my builders are in it 

Rose. 
\Pacing the room on the left.'] Oh, we're in a shocking 
scrape ! We're up to our necks ! 

James. 
{^Approaching Pontixg.] D'ye think you're the only 
sufferer- ! 

Stephen. 
\_WiidIy.'\ A triumph for Hammond! A triumph for 
Hammond ! 

JAxMES. 
[To Pontixg.] I've bought all that dirt at the bottom 
of Gordon Street — acres of it ! 

Ponting. 

{Passing him and walking away to the right."] That's 
your business. 

Stephen. 
\_Now, with Louisa, at the further side of the dining- 
tableT] Hammond and his filthy rag ! 

James. 

{Going after Ponting, in a fury,] Aye, it is my 
business 



194 THE THUNDERBOLT 



PONTING. 



[Turning upon him viciously^ I wish to God, sir, I'd 
never seen or heard of you, or your family. 

Rose. 
\Coming forward. '\ Oh, Toby, don't ! 

James. 
\To PONTING.] You wish that, do yer ! 

Ann. 
\_Rising and putting herself between James and PoNT- 
ING.] James ! 

Stephen. 
\_Shaking his fists in the air.'] Blast Hammond and his 
filthy rag. 

James. 
[To PONTING.] You patronizing little pauper ! 

Rose. 
[7o James.] Don't you speak to my husband like 
that ! 

PONTING. 

You're a pack of low, common people ! 

Rose. 
[Going to PoNTiNG.] He's the only gentleman among 
you. 

James. 
The only gentleman among us ! 

Stephen. 
[Coming forward, with Louisa, on the left.] The only 
gentleman ! 



THE THUNDERBOLT 195 

James. 
We could have done without such a gentleman in our 
family — [to Ann, who is forcing him, coaxingly, towards 
the left\ hey, mother? 

Stephen. 
{^Advancing to Ponting, still followed by Louisa.] Ex- 
ceedingly well — exceedingly well 

Louisa. 
{Taking Stephen's arw.] Don't lower yourself ! 

James. 
[C'z/^r Ann's shoulderJ] The Colonel never came near 
us the other day till he saw a chance o' picking up the 
pieces ! 

Stephen. 
Nor Rose either — neither of them did ! 

James. 
It's six o' one and half a dozen o' the other ! 

Rose. 

\_To James and Stephen.] Oh, you cads, you 
boys ! 

James. 
{Mockingly.] Didn't they bustle down to Linchpool in 
a hurry then I Ha, ha, ha ! 

Stephen. 
[ Waving his hand in Ponting' s/«<r^.] This serves you 
right, Colonel ; this serves you right. 

Rose. 

{Leading Ponting towards the doorS] Don't notice 
them — don't notice them 



196 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
\_lVaiking about on the left, to Ann.] I'm in a mess, 
mother ; I'm in a dreadful mess ! 

Stephen. 
\Sinking into a chair by the tea-tab le.'\ On I go at the 
broken-down rat-hole in King Street ; on 1 go with my 

worn-out old plant ! 

\0n getting to the door, Ponting discovers that 
Elkin and Vallance have taken their de- 
parture. He returns, with Rose, to the further 
side oj the dinijig-table. 

Ann. 
\To James.] You must get rid of your contract, James. 

James. 
Who'll take it— who'll take it ! 

Stephen. 
I've always been behind the times 

Louisa. 
Nelly will laugh her teeth out of her head 

Ponting. 
\To James and Stephen, trying to attract their atten- 
tion.'] Mortimore — Mortimore 

Ann. 
[7b James.] It's splendid land, isn't it ? 

James. 
Nobody's been ass enough to touch it but me ! 

Stephen. 
[^Rocking himself to and fro.] Always behind the times 
— no need to tell me that 



THE THUNDERBOLT 197 

PONTING. 

[TT? James.] Mortimore 

James. 
[r^PoNTiNG.] What.? 

PONTING. 

\Pointing to the empty chairs. '\ They've gone 

James. 
[Sobering dowti.~\ Hooked it ^ 

Stephen. 
[Looking rou}i(l.~\ Gone ? 

James. 
Elkin 

Stephen. 
[Weakly.'] And Vallance 

James. 
They might have had the common civihty 

PONTING. 

[Coming forward slowly and dejectedly 7\ They've gone 
to that woman 

Rose. 
[At the further side of the table.] I hope they send liei 

to jail — the trull — the baggage ! 

[Ann and hovish Join Rose. 

PONTING. 

The whole business will be settled between 'em in ten 
minutes — the whole business 



198 THE THUNDERBOLT 

James. 
[^Coming to Ponting.] Aye, the whole concern. 

Stephen. 
\lVJio has risen, holding his head.~\ Oh, it's awful ! 

Ponting. 
\^Laying a hand on James and Stephen who are on 
either side of hi?n.'] My friends, don't let us disagree — 
we're all in the same boat 

James. 
\Griinly, looking into space.'] Aye, they'll be talking it 
over nicely • 

Ponting. 
Let us stick to each other. Aren't we throwing up the 
sponge prematurely ? 

James. 
\_Not heeding him.] Tad and his wife and the lawyers 
— ha, ha ! 

Stephen. 
And that girl 

James. 
\Nodding.'\ The young lady. 

Ponting. 
What girl ? 

Stephen. 
Miss Thornhill. 

Ponting. 
Thornhill ? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 199 

James. 

She's staying with 'em. 

PONTING. 

She is ! 

Rose. 
[^Corning forward on the left.'] Staying with the 
Tads ? 

PONTING. 

In their house ! Elkin and Vallance will find her there ! 

James. 
\_Nodding.'] Aye. 

PONTING. 

[^Violently.'] It's a conspiracy ? 

James. 
Conspiracy ? 

PONTING. 

I see it ! The Thornhill girl's in it! She's at the bot- 
tom of it ! {Going to Rose as Ann and Louisa cojne for- 
ward on the left.'] They're cheating us — they're cheating 
us. I tell you we ought to be present. They're robbing 
us behind our backs 

Stephen. 
\_Looking at James.] Jim ? 

James. 
[Shaking his head.] No, it's no conspiracy 

Ponting. 
It is ! They're robbing us ! 



200 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
[r(7 James.] Still, I— I really think 

PONTING. 

Behind our backs ! 

The Ladies. 
Yes — yes — yes 

James. 
[After a pause , quietly, stroking his beardJ] By George, 

we'll go down ! 

\_Instantly they all make for the door. 

Stephen. 
We'll be there as soon as Elkin 

PONTING. 

A foul conspiracy ! 

Ann. 
[In the rear.'] Wait till I put on my hat 

Rose. 
Jim, you follow with Ann. 

PONTING. 

[To Stephen.] We'll go on ahead. 

Stephen. 
Yes, we'll go first. 

Louisa. 
I'm ready. 

James. 
No, no ; we'll all go together. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 201 

PONTING. 

Robbing us behind our backs ! 

James. 
Look sharp, mother ! 

The Others. 

Be quick — be quick — be quick ! 

[Seizhig Ann a7id pushing her before them, they 
struggle through the doorway. 



END OF THE THIRD ACT 



THE FOURTH ACT 

The scene is the same^ i?i every respect ^ as that of the 
Secofid Act. 

Vallance is seated at the writing-table by the bay-window, 
reading aloud from a written paper. Phyllis, in deep 
abasement, is upon the settee by the piano, and Thad- 
DEUs // standing by her, holdifig her left hand in both of 
his. On the left of the table at the end of the piano 
sits Helen, pale, calm, and erects and opposite to her, in 
the chair on the other side of the table, is Elkin. Pont- 
ING is sitting in the bay-window, Stephen is standing 
upon the hearth-rug, and the rest of the ''family''' are 
seated about the room — all looking very humble and 
downcast. Ann and Louisa are upon the settee on the 
right. Rose is in the armchair on the nearer side of the 
f rep lace, James on the ottoman. Rose, Ann, and 
Louisa are in their outdoor things. 

Vallance. 
\Jieading.'\ " It was broad daylight before my hus- 
band and I got back to our lodgings. The document 
was then in a pocket I was wearing under my dress. 
Before going to bed I hid the pocket in a drawer. At 
about eleven o'clock on the same morning my husband 
took me to Roper's, the draper's, in Ford Street, and left 
me there. After my measurements were taken I went 
up Ford Street and on to the bridge. I then tore up 
both the paper and the envelope and dropped the pieces 
into the water." 

202 



THE THUNDERBOLT 203 

Elkin. \ 
\^Half turning to Phyllis.] You declare that that is 
correct in every particuhir, Mrs, Mortimore ? 

[Phyllis bursts into a piiroxysni of tears. 

Thaddeus. 
[ To Phyllis, as if comfofiing a child.'] All right, dear ; 
all right. I'm with you — I'm with you. [She sobs help- 
less/y.] Tell Mr. Elkin — tell him — is that correct .^ 

Phyllis. 
\Through her sobs.] Yes. 

Elkin. 
[To Phyllis.] You've nothing further to say ? 

[Her sobbing continues. 

Thaddeus. 
[ To Phyllis.] Have you anything more to say, dear ? 
[Iincouragingly , as she tries to speak.] I'm here, dear — 
I'm with you. Is there anything — anything more ? 

Phyllis. 
Only — only that I beg Miss Thornhill's pardon. I beg 
her pardon. Oh, I beg her pardon. 

[Elkin looks at Helen, who, however, makes no 
response. 

Thaddeus. 
[To Phyllis, glancing at the others.] And — and — 

Phyllis. 
And — and Ann and Jim — and Stephen — and Lou — ana 
Rose and Colonel Pouting — I beg their pardon — I beg 
their pardon. 

[She sinks back upon the settee, and her fit of weep- 
ing gradually exhausts itself. 



204 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thaddeus. 
And I — and I, Mr. El kin — I wish to offer 7Hy apologies 
— my humble apologies — to you and Mr. Valiance — and 
to everybody — for what took place this afternoon in my 
brother's dining-room. 

Elkin. 
\_Kmdly.~\ Perhaps it isn't necessary 

Thaddeus. 
Perhaps not — but it's on my mind. [7^ Elkin and 
Vallance.] I assure you and Mr. Valiance — [io the 
others] and I assure every member of my family — that 
when 1 went away from here I had no intention of invent- 
ing the story I attempted to tell you at " Ivanhoe." It 
came into my head suddenly — quite suddenly — on my 
way to Clay brook Road^almost at the gate of the house. 
I must have been mad to think I could succeed in impos- 
ing on you all. I believe I was mad, gentlemen ; and 
that's my excuse, and I — I hope you'll accept it. 

Elkin. 
Speaking for myself, I accept it freely. 

Vallance. 
And I. 

Thaddeus. 
Thank you — thank you. 

[//<? looks at the others wistfully, but they are all 
staring at the carpet, and they, too, make no 
response. Theti he seats hitnself beside Phyllis 
atid again takes her hand. 

Elkin. 

{^After a pause.] Well, Mr. Vallance [Vallance 

rises, the written paper in his hand, and comes forward 



TEE THUNDERBOLT 206 

on the left.'\ I think — \_glancmg over his shoulder at 
Phyllis] I think that this lady makes it perfectly clear 
to any reasonable person that the document which she 
abstracted from the safe in Cannon Row, and subse- 
quently destroyed, was the late Mr. Edward Mortimore's 
will, and that Miss Thornhill was the universal legatee 
under it, and was named as the sole executrix. [Val- 
LANCE seats himself in the chair on the extreme left.'] As 
I said in Mr. James Mortimore's house, the advice 1 shall 
give to Miss Thornhill is that she applies to the Court for 
probate of the substance and effect of this will. 

Vallance. 

Upon an affidavit by Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore ? 

Elkin. 
An affidavit disclosing what she has done and verifying 
a statement of the contents of the will. 

Vallance. 
And how, may I ask, are you going to get over your 
great difficulty ? 

Elkin. 

My great difficulty ? 

Vallance. 
The fact that Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore is unable to 
swear that the will was duly witnessed. 

PONTING. 

Ah ! \_Rising and coming forward, but discreetly keep- 
ing behijid Helen.] That seems to me to be insuperable 
— insuperable. Sjinxiously.] Eh, Mr. Vallance ? 

Stephen. 
\Advancing a stef or two.] An obstacle which cannot 
be got over. 



206 TEE THUNDERBOLT 

PONTING. 

{^Eyeing Helen fur/z've/y.^ It — ah — may appear rather 
ungracious to Miss Thornhill — a young lady we hold in 
the highest esteem — and to whom I express regret for any 
hasty word I may have used on arriving here — unre- 
served regret — [Helen's eyes flash, and her shoulders 
contract ; otherwise she makes no acknowledgment'^ it may 
appear ungracious to Miss Thornhill to discuss this point 
in her presence ; \^pulling at his moustache^ but she will 
be the first to recognize that there are many — ah — inter- 
ests at stake. 

Stephen. 
Many interests — many interests 

PONTING. 

And where so many interests are involved, one mustn't 
— ah — allow oneself to be swayed by anything hke senti- 
ment. 

Stephen. 

\At the round t aide.'] In justice, one oughtn t to be sen- 
timental. 

PONTING. 

One darenU be sentimental. 

Louisa. 
\^Meekly, raising her head.] I always maintain 

Stephen. 
\^To Louisa.] Yes, yes, yes. 

Louisa. 
There are two sides 



THE THUNDERBOLT 207 

Stephen. 
Yes, yes. 

Elkin. 
\^Ig7iori7ig the interruption. '\ Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore 
is prepared to swear, Mr, Vallance, that she beUeves there 
were other signatures besides the signature of the late Mr. 
Mortimore. 

Vallance. 
But she has no recollection of the names of wit- 
nesses 



None whatever. 
Not the faintest. 



PONTING. 

Stephen. 



Vallance. 
Nor as to whether there was an attestation clause at 
all. 

PONTING. 

Her memory is an utter blank as to that. 

Stephen. 
An utter blank. 

\As PoNTiNG and Stephen perk tip, there is a 
rise i)t the spirits of the ladies at the fireplace. 
Rose twists her chair round to face the men. 
James doe sn t stir. 

Elkin. 
Notwithstanding that, I can't help considering it rea- 
sonably probable that, in the circumstances, the Court 
would presume the will to have been made in due form. 



208 THE THUNDERBOLT 

PONTING. 

[ Walking about agitatedly .'\ I differ. 

Stephen. 
\Walking about. '\ So do I. 

PONTING. 

I don't pretend to a profound knowledge of the 
law 

Stephen. 
As a mere layman, /consider it extremely zwprobable 
— extremely mprobable. 

Vallance. 
[27? Stephen ««rtf Ponting.] Well, gentlemen, there I 
am inclined to agree with you 

Ponting. 
{Pulling himself up.'] Ah ! 

Stephen. 
\_Returning to the round table.] Ah ! 

Vallance. 
/ think it doubtful whether, on the evidence of Mrs. 
Thaddeus Mortimore, the will could be upheld. 

Ponting. 
Exactly. \To everybody.] You've only to look at the 
thing in the light of common sense 

Stephen. 
\Argumentatively , rapping the table.] A will exists or 
it does not exist 

Ponting. 
If it ever existed, and has been destroyed 



THE THUNDERBOLT 209 

Stephen. 
It must be shown that it was a complete will 

PONTING. 

Shown beyond dispute. 

Stephen. 
Complete down to the smallest detail. 

Vallance. 
[^Continuing.'] At the same time, in my opinion, the 
facts do not warrant the making of an affidavit that the 
late Mr. Mortimore died intestate. 

PONTING. 

[Stiffly.] Indeed? 

Stephen. 
[Depressed.] Really ? 

Vallance. 
And the question of whether or not he left a duly ex- 
ecuted will is clearly one for the Court to decide. 

Elkin. 
Quite so — quite so. 

Vallance. 
I advise, therefore, that, to get the question determined, 
the next-of-kin should consent to the course of procedure 
suggested by Mr. Elkin. 

Elkin. 
I am assuming their consent. 

PONTING. 

[Bhistering.] And supposing the next-of-kin do not 
consent, Mr. Vallance ? 



210 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Stephen. 
Supposing we do nai consent ? 

PONTING. 

Supposing we are convinced — convinced — that the 
late Mr. Mortimore died without leaving a properly ex- 
ecuted will? 

Elkin. 

Then the application, instead of being by motion to 
the judge in Court, must take the form of an action by 
writ. \_To Vallance.] In any case, perhaps it should 
do so. 

[There is a pause. Stephen wanders disconso- 
lately to the winddfiv on the right and stands 
gazing into the garden. Ponting leans his el- 
bows on the piano and stares at vacancy. 

Elkin. 
\To Helen, looking at his watch ^ Well, my dear 

Miss Thornhill ? 

[Vallance rises. 

Helen. 

Wait — wait a^moment 

\^The soimd of Helen's voice turns everybody, 
except James, Thaddeus, and Phyllis, in 
her direction. 

Elkin. 
\To Helen.] Eh? 

Helen. 
Wait a moment, please. There is something I want to 
be told — there's something I want to be told plainly. 

Elkin. 
What? 



THE THUNDERBOLT 211 

Helen. 
Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore 

Elkin. 
Yes? 

Helen. 
[^Slowly.'] I want to know whether it is necessary, what- 
ever proceedings are taken on my behalf — whether it is 
necessary that she should be publicly disgraced. I want 
to know that. 

Elkin. 
Whichever course is adopted — motion to the judge or 
action by writ — Mrs. Thaddeus Mortimore's act must be 
disclosed in open Court. 

Helen. 
There are no means of avoiding it ? 

Elkin. 
None. 

Helen. 
And the offence she has committed is — felony, you 
say ? 

[Elkin inclines his head. Again there is silence, 
during which Helen sits zvith knitted broivs, 
and then James rouses himself a7id looks up. 

James. 
[77? Elkin.] What's the — what's the penalty ? 

Elkin. 
[Turning to hint.'] The — the penalty ? 

James. 
The legal punishment. 



212 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 

I think — another occasion 

\Sudde7ily Thaddeus and Phyllis rise together, 
he with an arm round her, supporting her, 
and they stand side by side like crimi7ials in the 
dock, 

Thaddeus. 
{^Quickly. '\ No, no — now 

Phyllis. 
\_Faintly.'\ Yes — now 

Thaddeus. 
\To Elkin and Vallance.] We — we should like to 
know the worst, gentlemen. I — I had the idea from the 
first that it was a serious offence — but hardly so seri- 
ous 

Elkin. 
\lVith a wave of the handr^ By and by 

Thaddeus. 
Oh, you needn't hesitate, Mr. Elkin. \Dra'wingVvi\\AA'S, 
closer to him.'] We — we shall go through with it. We 
shall go through with it to the end. [^ApauseJ] Impris- 
onment, sir? 

Elkin. 
{^Gravely. ^ A person convicted of stealing or destroy- 
ing a will for a fraudulent purpose is liable under the 
statute to varying terms of penal servitude, or to impris- 
onment with or without hard labor. In this instance, we 
should be justified, I am sure, in hoping for a consider- 
able amount of leniency. 

[Thaddeus and Phyllis slowly look at one an- 
other with expressionless faces. James rises 
and moves away to the fireplace where he 



THE THUNDERBOLT 213 

stands looking down upon the Jlozvers in the 
grate. Vallance goes to the ivriiing-table 
and puts the written paper into his bag. Elkin 
rises, takes tip his bag from the table at the 
end of the piano, and is following Vallance. 
As he passes Helen, she lays her hand upon 
his arm. 

Helen. 

Mr. Elkin 

Elkin. 
{Stopping.^ Yes? 

Helen. 
Oh, but this is impossible. 

Elkin. 
Impossible ? 

Helen. 
Quite impossible. I couldn't be a party — please under- 
stand me — I refuse to be a party — to any steps which 
would bring ruin on Mrs. Mortimore. 

Elkin, 
\Politely.'\ You refuse ? 

Helen. 
Absolutely. At any cost — at any cost to me — we must 
all unite in sparing her and her husband and children. 

Elkin. 
My dear young lady, I join you heartily in your desire 
not to bring suffering upon innocent people. But if you 
decline to take proceedings 

Helen. 
There is no " if" in the matter 



214 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
If you decline to take proceedings, there is a deadlock. 

Helen. 
A deadlock ? 

Elkin. 
As Mr. Vallance tells us, it's out of the question that 
the next-of-kin should now apply for Letters of Adminis- 
tration in the usual way. 

Helen. 
Why ? I don't see why — I can't see why. 

Elkin. 
\_Pointing to James and Stephen.] You don't see why 
neither of these gentlemen can make an affidavit that 
Mr. Edward Mortimore died intestate ! 

Helen. 

[ With a movement of the head towards Phyllis.] She 
hais no remembrance of a — what is it called ? 

Ponting. 
\_Eagerly7\ Attestation clause. 

Stephen. 
\Coming to the head of the piano. "^ Attestation clause. 

Helen. 
[ Haughtily, without turning. ] Th ankyou. [7(? Elkin.] 
Only the vaguest notion thai there were witnesses. 

Ponting. 
The vaguest notion. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 215 

Stephen. 
The haziest. 

Elkin, 
Her memory is uncertain there. [ 7<9 Helen.] But you 
\ino\v—you know. Miss Thornhill — as we all know — that 
it was your father's will that was found in the safe at 
Cannon Row and destroyed. 

Helen. 
\Looki7tg 2ip at him, gripping the arms of her chair.'] 
Yes, of course I know it. Thank God I know it! I'm 
happy in knowing it. I know he didn't forget me ; I 
know I was all to him that I imagined myself to be. And 
it's because I've come to know this at last — through her 
— that I can afford to be a little generous to her. Oh, 
please don't think that I want to introduce sentimentality 
into this affair — [with a conte?nptiious giance at Vonm^G 
and Stephen] any more than Colonel Pondng does — or 
Mr. Stephen iMortimore. Mrs. Thaddeus did a cruel 
thing when she destroyed that will. It's no excuse for 
her to say that she wasn't aware of my existence. She 
was defrauding stmie woman ; and, as it happened — I own 
it now ! — defrauding that woman, not only of money, but 
of what is more valuable than money — of peace of mind, 
contentment, belief in one who could never speak, never 
explain, never defend himself. However, she has made 
the best reparation it is in her power to make — and she 
has gone through a bad time — and I forgive her. 
[Phyllis releases herself fy-om Thaddeus and drops down 
upon the settee. He sits Jipon the ottoman, burying his 
face in his hands. Helen rises, struggling to keep back 
her tears, and turns to the door.] I — I'll go up-stairs — if 
you'll allow me 

Elkin. 
[Betwee?i her and the door.] Miss Thornhill, you put 
us in a position of great difficulty 



216 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
\^/inpatienfly.'] I say again, I don't see why. Where 
is the difficulty ? [7^ Vallance a/z^i'ELKiN.] If there's 
a difficulty, it's you gentlemen who are raising it. Let 
the affair go on as it was going on. \_Turning to James.] 
Mr. Mortimore ! \^To Elkin.] I say, let Mr. James Mor- 
timore and the others administer the estate as they in- 
tended to do. [TT? James, who has left the fireplace ajid 
slowly advajiced to Jier.~\ Mr. Mortimore 

Elkin. 
[7^* Helen.] Then you would have Mr. James Morti- 
more deliberately swear that he believes his late brother 
died without leaving a will ? 

Helen. 

Certainly, if necessary. Who would be hurt by it.? 

Elkin. 

\Pursi7ig his lips.~\ Miss Thornhill 

Helen. 
\^Hotly.~\ Why, which do you think would be the more 
acceptable to the Almighty — that I should send this poor 
lady to prison, or that Mr. James should take a false 
oath ? 

Elkin. 
H'm ! I won't attempt to follow you quite so far. But 
even then a most important point would remain to be 
setded. 

Helen. 

Even then ? 

Elkin. 
Assuming that Mr. James Mortimore did make this 
affidavit — that he were permitted to make such an affi- 
davit 



THE THUNDERBOLT 217 

Helen. 
Yes? 

Elkin. 
What about the disposition of the estate ? 

Helen. 
{^Nodding, slowly and though/fully.'] The— the disposi- 
tion of the estate 

[Stephen steals over to Ponting, a?id Rose, Ann, 
and Louisa quietly rise and gather together. 
They all listen with painful interest. 

Elkln. 

\To Helen.] Morally, at all events, the whole of the 
late Mr. Mortimore's estate belongs to you. 

Helen. 
\Simply.'\ It was his intention that it should do so. 
\JLooki7ig ^?/' J AMES, as if inviting hi7n to speak.'] Well ? 

^ James. 

[^Stroking his beard.] Look here. Miss Thornhill. 
\_Pointing to the chair on the extreme left.] Sit down a 
minute. \She sits. James also seats himself, facing her, 
at the right of the table at the end of the piano. Val- 
lance joins Elkin and they stand near Helen, occa- 
sionally exchangiitg remarks with each other.] Look here. 
[/« a deep, gruff voice.] There is no doubt that my 
brother Ned's money rightfully belongs to you. 

Ponting. 
\_Nervously.] Mortimore 

James. 
\_Tur7ii7tg upon him.] You leave us alone. Don't you 
interfere. [ To Helen.] I've no more doubt about it, Miss 



218 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Thornhill, than that I'm ^sitting here. Very good. Say 
I make the affidavit, and that we — the family — obtain 
Letters of Administration. What then? The money 
comes to tis. Sull — it's yours. We get hold of it, but 
it's yours. Now ! What if we offer to throw the whole 
lot, so to speak, into your lap? 

Stephen. 
S^Biihig /lis 7iaih.'\ Jim 

James. 
{To Stephen.] Don't you interfere. {To Helen.] 
I repeat, what if we offer to throw the whole lot into your 
lap? {Le ailing forward, very earnestly.^ Miss Thorn- 
hill 

PONTING. 

May I ? 

James. 

\To PONTING.] If you can't be silent ! \To 

Helen.] Miss Thornhill, we're poor, we Mortimores, 
I won't say anything about Rose — \ivith a sneer'] it 
wouldn't be polite to the Colonel ; nor Tad— you see 
what he's come to. But Stephen and me — take our case. 
[7o Elkin and Vallance.] Mr. Vallance — Mr. Elkin 
— this is sacred. \_7b Helen.] My dear, we're promi- 
nent men in the town, both of us ; we're looked up to as 
being fairly warm and comfortable ; but in reality we're 
not much better off than the others. My trade's being 
cut into on all sides ; Stephen's business has run to seed ; 
we've no capital ; we've never had any capital. What 
we might have saved has been spent on educating our 
children, and keeping up appearances ; and when the 
time comes for us to be knocked out, there'll be precious 
little — bar a stroke of luck — precious little for us to end 
our days on. So this is a terrible disappointment to us — 



THE THUNDERBOLT 219 

an awful disappointment. Aye, the money's yours — it's 
yours — but — [opening- his hands\ what are you going to 
do for the family ? 

[ There is a pause. The Pontings, Stephen, Ann 
a7id Louisa draw a little nearer. 

Helen. 
\To James.] Well— since you put it in this way— I'll 
tell you what I'll do. [AtiotJi^r pause. '\ I'll share with 
you all. 

James. 
\To the others.'] You leave us alone; you leave us 
alone. \To Helen.] Share and share alike ? 

Helen. 
\_'Ffn7iking.'] Share and share alike — after discharging 
my obligations. 

James. 
Obligations ? 

PoNTiNG afid Stephen. 
Obligations ? 

Helen. 
After carrying out my fatjier's instructions with regard 
to his old servants. 

James. 
\_Nodding.'] Oh, aye. 

PONTING. 

[^Walking about excitedly.'] That's a small matter. 

Stephen. 
\_Also walki)ig about.'] A trifle— a trifle 



220 THE THUNDERBOLT 

PONTING. 

Then wliat.it amounts to is this — the estate will be 
divided into five parts instead of four. 

Stephen. 
Five instead of four — obviously. 

Helen. 
[Still thinking.'] No — into six. 

James. 
Six? 

PoNTiNG and Stephen. 
Six! 

Rose afid Louisa. 
[ Who with Ann, are inoving round the head of the 
piano, to join Ponting and Stephen.] Six ! 

Helen. 
[Firmly r\ Six. A share must be given, as a memorial 
of my father, to one of the hospitals in Linchpool. 

Ponting and Stephen. 
{Protestingly:\ Oh ! 

Rose, Ann and Louisa. 
Oh ! 

PONTINGj^ 

Entirely unnecessary. 

Stephen. 
Uncalled for. 

Helen. 
I insist. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 221 

PONTING. 

{Comitig to Helen.] My dear Miss Thornhill, believe 
me — believe me — these cadging hospitals are a great 
deal too well off as it is. 

Helen. 
I insist that a share shall be given to a Linchpool 
hospital. 

PONTING. 

I could furnish you with details of maladministration 
on the part of hospital-boards 

Rose. 
Shocking mismanagement 

Stephen. 
There's our own hospital 

Louisa. 
A scandal. 

Stephen. 

Our Jubilee hospital 

Ann. 
It's scarcely fit to send your servants to. 

Helen. 
[77; James, mrn^.] Mr. Mortimore 

James. 
{^Rhing, to PONTiNG and the rest.'] Miss Thornhill 
says that one share of the estate's to go to a Linchpool 
hospital. D'ye hear? [^Moving towards them aitthon- 
tatively.'\ That's enough. 



222 THE THUNDERBOLT 

[PONTING and Stephen bustle to the writing- 
table, where they each seize a sheet of paper 
and proceed to reckon. Rose, Ann and 
Louisa surround them. James stands by, his 
hatids in his pockets, looking on. 

PONTING. 

\Sitting at the writing-table — in an undertone.'] A hun- 
dred and seventy thousand pounds 

Stephen. 
\Bending over the table — in an undertone.] Six into 
seventeen — two and carry five 

PONTING. 

Six into fifty — eight and carry two 

Stephen. 
Six into twenty 

PONTING. 

Three 

[Helen seats herself in the chair 07i the right of 
the table at the end of the pia7io. Elkin and 
Valla NCE ai-e now i7i eai-nesi conversation on 
the extreme left. While the calculation is go- 
ing on, Thaddeus and Phyllis raise their 
heads and look at each other. 

Stephen. 
Carry two 

PONTING. 

Six into twenty again — three and carry two 

Stephen. 
Again, six into twenty — three and carry two 



THE THUNDERBOLT 223 

PONTING. 

Six into forty — six and carry four 

Stephen. 
Six into forty-eight 

PONTING. 

Eight 

Stephen., 
Twenty-eight thousand, three hundred and thirty-three 
pounds, six shilhngs and eight pence. 

PONTING. 

[^Rising, his paper in his hmtd.'] Twenty-eight thou- 
sand apiece. 

Thaddeus. 
[^Rising.'] No 

Phyllis. 
\_Rising.'\ No 

Thaddeus. 
[^As everybody turns to him.'\ No, no — 

James. 
Eh? 

PONTING. 

[77? Thaddeus.] What do you mean, sir? 

Stephen. 
{To Thaddeus.] What do you mean ? 

Thaddeus. 
{Agitatedly .'\ I don't take my share — my wife and I 
don't take our share — we don't touch it 



224 TEE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 
\CUnging to Thaddeus.] We won't touch it — oh, no, 
no, no, no ! 

James. 
\To Thaddeus.] Don't be a fool — don't be a fool ! 

Thaddeus. 
Fool or no fool — not a penny 

Phyllis. 
Not a penny of it 

Thaddeus. 
Not a penny. 

Helen. 
Very well, then. [/« a clear voice.'] Very well ; Mr. 
Thaddeus Mortimore will not accept his share. 

PONTING. 

[ With alacrity.'] He dechnes it. 

Helen. 
He dechnes it. 

PONTING. 

That alters the figures — alters the figures 

Stephen. 
Very materially. 

Rose. 
\^To Ann and Louisa.] Only five to share instead of 
six. 

Ann. 
\_Bewildered.'\ I don't understand , 



THE THUNDERBOLT 225 



Louisa. 



[Shaking her ari)i.'\ Five instead of six ! 

[Laying his paper on the lop of the piano, Ponting 
produces his pocket-pencil and makes a fresh 
calculation. Stephen stands at his elbow. 
Rose, Ann and Louisa gather round them. 

Stephen. 
[/;/ an undertone. '\ A hundred and seventy thou- 
sand 

Ponting. 
\In an undertone.'] Five into seventeen 

Stephen. 



Three 

Five into twenty 



Ponting. 



Stephen. 
Thirty-four thousand exactly. 

Ponting. 
Thirty-four thousand apiece. 

Rose, Ann and Louisa. 
[To each other.] Thirty-four thousand ! 

Helen. 
Wait — wait. Wait, please. \ After a short pause.] Mr. 
Thaddeiis Mortimore refuses to accept his share. I am 
sorry — but he appears determined. 

Thaddeus. 
Determined — determined 



226 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Phyllis. 



Determined 



Helen. 



That being so, 1 ask that his share shall be settled upon 

his boy and girl. [7^Elkin.] Mr. Elkin [|ilkin 

advances to her.'] 1 suppose an arrangement of that kind 
can easily be made ? 

Elkin. 
\^Witk a shrug.'] Mr. Thaddews Mortimore can assent 
to his share being handed over to the trustees of a Deed 
of Settlement for the benefit of his children, giving a re- 
lease to the administrator from all claims in reipect of his 
share. 

Helen. 
[Turning to Thaddeus.] You've no objection to this? 
[Thaddeus and Phyllis sia7'e at Helen dumbly, with 
parted tips.] They are great friends of mine — Cyril and 
Joyce — and I hope th*ey' 11 remain so. \_A pause.] Well? 
You've no right to stand in their light. [A pause.] You 
won't, surely, stand in their light? \_A paicse.] Don't. 

[Again there is silence, and then Phyllis, leaving 
Thaddeus, totters forward, and drops on her 
knees before Helen, boiving her head in 
Helen's lap. 

Phyllis. 

[Weeping.] Oh-oh-oh ! 

[Cahftly, Helen disengages herself from Phyllis, 
rises, and walks aivay to the fireplace. Thad- 
deus lifts Phyllis from the ground and leads 
her to the open window. They stand there, 
facing the garden, she crying upon his shoulder. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 227 

Elkin. 

\_Advancing to t/te niiddle of the room, with the air of a 
man who is about to perform an unpleasant task.~\ Miss 
'riiornhill — [HelEiN turns to him] Mr. Vallance and 1 — 
\_to Vallance] Mr. Vallance — [Vallance advances'] 
Mr. Vallance and I have come to the conclusion that, as 
all persons interested in this business are j/^zy^/rz^ and 
agreeable to the compromise which has been proposed, 
nobody would be injured by the next-of-kin applying for 
Letters of Administration. 

Vallance. 
\_'Jb Elkin.] Except the Revenue. 

Elkin. 

^Indifferently , with a nod.] The Revenue. 

Vallance. 
The legacy duty being at three per cent, instead of ten. 

Elkin. 
\_Nodding.] H'm, h'm! [77? Helen.] But, my dear 
young lady, we have also to say that, with the informa- 
tion we possess, we do not see our way clear to act in the 
matter any further. 

Vallance. 
\To James, who has cojfte forward on the left.] We cer- 
tainly could not be parties to the making of an affidavit 
that the deceased died intestate. 

Elkin. 
We couldn't reconcile ourselves to that. 

Vallance. 
We leave it, therefore, to the next-of-kin to take their 
own course for obtaining Letters of Administration. 



228 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Elkin. 
In fact, we beg to be allowed to withdraw from the 
affair altogether. I speak for myself, at any rate. 

Vallance. 
[Emphatic ally. ~\ Altogether. 

James. 
[After a pause.'] Oh— all right, Mr. Elkin ; all right, 
Mr. Vallance. 

Helen. 
[To Elkin.] Then — do I lose you ? 

Elkin. 
I am afraid — for the present 

Felen. 
[With dignity.] As you please. I am very grateful to 
you for what you have done for me. 

Elkin. 
[Looking roimd.] If I may offer a last word of advice, 
it is that you should avoid putdng the terms of this com- 
promise into writing. 

Vallance. 
[Assentingly.] Each party must rely upon the other to 
fulfil the terms honorably. 

Elkin. 
[To Helen.] You have no legal \\^\\\. to enforce those 
terms ; but pray remember that, in the event of any 
breach of faith, there would be nothing to prevent you 
propounding the will even after Letters of Adminis- 
tration have been granted. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 229 

James. 
Breach of faith, sir ! 

PoNTixG and Stephen. 
\Indignantly .'\ Oh ! 

James. 
There's no need, Mr. Elkin 

Elkin. 
[7^ James.] No, no, no — not the shghtest, I'm con- 
vinced, [7i? Helen, taking her hand.~\ The httle hotel 
in London — Norfolk Street ? 

Helen. 
Till I'm suited with lodgings. 

Elkin. 
Mrs. Elkin will write. 

Helen. 
My love to her. 

\_He stniles at her and leaves her, as Vallance 
comes to her and shakes her hand. 

Vallance. 
\To Helen.] Good-bye. 

Helen. 
{To Vallance.] Good-bye. 

Elkin. 
\To those on the left.'l Good-afternoon. 

A Murmur. 
Good-afternoon. 



230 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Vallance. 
[7^ those on the ieft.'] Good-afternoon. 

A Murmur. 
Good-afternoon. 

[James has opened the door. Elkin ajid Val- 
lance, carrying their bags, go out. James 
follows them, closing the door. 

PONTING. 

{Coming forward.'] Ha ! We can replace those gentle- 
men without much difficulty. ^ 

Stephen. 
\jComing forward. '\ Old Crake has gone to pieces and 
this fellow Vallance is playing ducks and drakes with the 
practice — ducks and drakes, 

PONTING. 

{Offering his handto Helen, wJlo takes it perfunctorily^ 
Greatly indebted to you — greatly indebted to you for 
meeting us half-way and saving unpleasantness. 

Stephen. 
Pratt is the best lawyer in the town — the best by far. 

PONTING. 

\To Helen.] Nothing like a compromise, provided it 
can be arrived at — ah 

Stephen. 
Without loss of self-respect on both sides. 

[James returns. 
Ponting. 
\To James.] Mordmore, we'll go back to your house. 

There are two or three things to talk over 

[Rose comes to Helen as Ponting goes to 
Stephen ««^ James. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 231 

Rose. 
[ShakiJig hands with Helen.] We sha'n't be settled in 
Carlos Place till the autumn, but directly we are set- 
tled 

Helen. 
\_Disia7itly.'] Thank you. 

Rose. 
Everybody flocks to my Tuesdays. Let me have your 
address and Til send you a card. 

[Rose leaves Helen, makmg way for\^o\5\'S>\ and 
Stephen. 

Louisa. 
[77? Helen.] Don't forget the Crescent. Whenever 
you want to visit your dear father's birthplace 

Stephen. 
\_Benevolently.'] And if there should be any little cere- 
mony over laying the foundation-stone of the new Iwies 

and Mirror building 

Louisa. 

There's the spare bedroom. 

[ T/iey shake hands with her and, makins^ way for 
Ann and James, follow the Pontings, who 
have gone out. 

Ann. 

{Shaking hands with Helen, gloomily.'] The next 
time you stay at " Ivanhoe," I hope you'll unpack more 
than one small trunk. But, there — \kissing her] I bear 
no malice. 

[She follows the others, leaving James with Helen. 

Jame^. 
[ To H elen , gruffly, wringing her hand. ] Much obliged 
to you, my dear ; much obliged to you. 



232 THE THUNDERBOLT 



Helen. 



\_Afier glancing over her shoulder, in a whisper.^ Mr, 
Mortimore 

James. 
Eh? 

Helen. 

[ With a motion of her head in the direction of Thad- 
DEUs rt«^/ Phyllis.] These two — these two 

James. 
\_Lowering his voice.'] What about 'em ? 

Helen. 
She's done a wrong thing, but recollect — you all profit 
by it. You don't disdain, any of you, to profit by it. 
\_He looks at her queerly, but straight in the eyes.] Try to 
make their lives a little easier for them. 

James. 

Easier ? 

Helen. 
Happier. You can influence the others, if you will. 
\^A pai/se.] Will you? 

\_//e reflects, shakes her hand again, and goes to 
the door. 

James. 

\^At the door, sharply?^ Tad ! [Thaddeus turns.] 

See you in the morning. Phyllis ! \_She also turns 

to him, half scared at his tone.] See you both in the 
morning. \J\fodding to her.] Good-bye, old girl. 

[i% disappears. Helen is now standing upon 
the hearth-rug, her hafids behind her, looking 
down into the grate. Thaddeus and Phyllis 
glance at her; then, guiltily, they too move to 
the door, passing round the head of the piano. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 233 



Phyllis. 



[^At the door in a low, hard voice.'] Helen [Helen 

partly turns.\ You're leaving to-morrow. I'll keep out 
of your way — I'll keep up-stairs in my room — till you've 
gone. 

\She goes out. Thaddeus is following her, when 
Helen calls to him. 

Helen. 

Mr. Thaddeus \^He closes the door and advances 

to her humbly. She comes forward.] There's no reason 
why I should put your wife to that trouble. It's equally 
convenient to me to return to London this evening. [//^ 
bows.] Will you kindly ask Kate to pack me? 

Thaddeus. 
Certainly. 

Helen. 
Er — [thinking] Mr. Trist had some calls to make after 
we left the flower-show. If I've gone before he comes 
back, tell him I'll write 

Thaddeus. 
\_Bowing again.] You'll write. 

Helen. 
And explain. 

Thaddeus. 
\lJnder his breath, looking up quickly.] Explain ! 

Helen. 
Explain, among other things, that I've yfelded to the 
desire of the family 

Thaddeus. 
Desire ? 



234 THE THUNDERBOLT . 

Helen. 

That I should accept a share of my father's property. 

Thaddeus. 

\_Falteringly^ Thank you — thank you 

Helen. 
\After a while. '\ That's all, I think. 
Thaddeus. 

{Offering his hand to her.~\ I — I wish you every hap- 
piness, Miss Thornhill. [She places her hand in his.'] I — 
1 wish you every happiness. 

[She inclines her head in acknowledgment and 
again he goes to the door ; and again, turning 
away to the round table where she trifies with 
a book, she calls him. 

Helen. 

Oh, Mr. Tad [He halts.'] Mr. Tad, I propose 

that we allow six months to pass in complete silence — six 
months from to-day 

Thaddeus. 
[Dully, not understanding.] Six months — silence ? 

Helen. 
I mean, without my hearing from your wife. Then, 
perhaps, she — she will send me another invitation 

Thaddeus. 

[Leaving the door, staring at her.] Invitation ? 

Helen. 
By that time, we shall, all of us, have forgotten a great 
deal — sha'n't we? [Facing him.] You'll say that to her 
for me ? 

[He hesitates, then he takes her hands and, bend- 
ing over them, kisses them repeatedly. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 235 

Thaddeus. 
God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. 

Helen. 

[ Withdrawing her hands.'] Plnd — Kate 

[ Once more he makes for the door. 

Thaddeus 
\Stopping half-way and pulling himself together.] Miss 
Thornhill — my wife — my wife — you've seen her at a dis- 
advantage — a terrible disadvantage. Y^w — few pass 
through life without being seen — once — or oftener — at a 
disadvantage. She — she's a splendid woman — a splen- 
did woman — a splendid wife and mother. \Moving to the 
door.] They haven't appreciated her — the family haven't 
appreciated her. They've treated her abominably ; for 
sixteen years she's been treated abominably. \_At the 
door.] But I've never regretted my marriage — \_defiatitly] 
I've never regretted it — never, for a single moment — 

never regretted it — never — never regretted it 

\He disappears. She goes to the table at the end 
of the piano and takes up her drawing-block 
and box of crayons. As she does so, Trist lets 
himself i)ito the garden. She pauses, listening, 
and presently he enters the room at the open 
window. 

Trist. 
{Throwing his hat o?t the round table] Ah ! 

Helen. 
[Animatedly.] Mr. Trist 

Trist. 

Yes? 



236 THE THUNDERBOLT 

Helen. 
Run out to the post-office for me — send a telegram in 
my name 

Tkist. 
With pleasure. 

Helen. 
Gregory's Hotel, Norfolk Street, Strand, London — the 
manager. Miss Thornhill will arrive to-night — prepare 
her room 

Trist. 
[^His face falling.~\ To-night ! 

Helen. 
I've altered my plans. Gregory's Hotel — Greg- 
ory's 

Trist. 
{Picking up his hat.'] Norfolk Street, Strand 

Helen. 
{At the door.'] Mr. Trist— I want you to know— I— I've 
come into a small fortune. 

Trist. 
A fortune ? 

Helen. 
Nearly thirty thousand pounds. 

Trist. 
Thirty thousand ! 

Helen. 
They've persuaded me — persuaded me to take a share 
of my poor father's money. 



THE THUNDERBOLT 237 

Trist. 
I — I'm glad. 

Helen. 
You — you think I'm doing rightly ? 

Trist. 
\_Depressed.'\ Why — of course. 

\jShe opens the door mid he goes to the window. 

Helen. 

Mr. Trist ! \She comes back mto the room.^ Mr. 

Trist ! [//f approaches her.'] Mr. Trist — don't — 

don't 

Trist. 
What? 

Helen. 

\_//er head droopingT] Don't let this make any differ- 
ence between us — will you ? 

\She raises her eyes to his and they stand looking 
at each other in silence. Then she turns away 
abruptly and leaves the room as he hurries 
through the garden. 



THE END 



Arthur W. Pinero 

THE 
THUNDERBOLT 




A COMEDY IN FOUR ACTS 



Walter H. Baker 6 Co.. Boston 



^titt, 50 CentjS €ac|) 



THE AMAZONS ^^"^^^ ^'^ Three Act3. Seven males, five females. 
Costumes, modern ; scenery, not difficult. Plays 
a full evening. 

TBE CABINET MINISTER ^:^^Z^;.Z::^:^ 

scenery, three interiors. Plays a full evening. 

flANHY BICIC ^^^^^ ^" Three Acts. Seven males, four females. 
Costumes, modern ; scenery, two interiors. Plays 
two hours and a half. 

THP A A V I nOn ftllPY Comedy in Four Acts. Four males, ten 
iflC UAI LrUJIII ^UEA ^^^^^^^ Costumes, modern ; scenery, 

two interiors and an exterior. Plays a full evening. 

HIS HflllSF IN OttDFR comedy in Four Acts. Nine males, four 
UI J IIVU JL< in \fl\VLA jgj^j^igg Costumes, modern ; scenery, 

three interiors. Plays a full evening, 

THF HORRY HORSF comedy in Three Acts. Ten males, five 
lllL IIWIWI UVn Li fgj^aigg Costumes, modern; scenery easy. 

Plays two hours and a half. 

ipic Drama in Five Acts. Seven males, seven females. Costumes, 
modern ; scenery, three interiors. Plays a full evening. 

I AOY ROIINTIFIII ^^^^ "^ Four Acts. Eight males, seven fe- 
LiiWi. UVVIM iVLi jTjj^jgg Costumes, xnodern ; scenery, four in- 
teriors, not easy. Plays a full evening. 

I FTTY ^^'^'"^ "^ Four Acts and an Epilogue, Ten males, five fe- 
*^^ males. Costumes, modern ; scenery complicated. Plays a 

full evening. 



Sent prepaid on receipt of price by 

Salter 1$. TSa^n & Company 

No. 5 Hamilton Place, Boston, Massachusetts 



gi. W. ^mero's Paps 



THF MAfilSTRATF ^^^^^ *" Three Acts. Twelve males, four 
IUI4 iTlAUlJII\All4 fen^ales. Costumes, modern; scenery, all 

interior. Plays two hours and a half. 

THE NOTORIOUS MRS. EBBSMITH ^'^'^ ,'" J°r T 

^ Eight males, hve females. 

Costumes, modern ; scenery, all interiors. Plays a full evening. 

THF PRftFI IfiATF ^l^y in Four Acts. Seven males, five females. 
^ Scenery, three interiors, rather elaborate ; 

costumes, modern. Plays a full evening. 

TBE SCHOOLMISTRESS S^r^^tt nirrrr;. 

three interiors. Plays a full evening. 

THE SECOND MRS. TANQUERAY ^L^^l^-lo: 

tumes, modern ; scenery, three interiors. Plays a full evening. 

SWFFT I AVFNDFR ^'**™®*iy *" Three Acts. Seven males, four 
JliLiLtl L< Li VL, females. Scene, a single interior; costumes, 
modern. Plays a full evening. 

THF TFMFS comedy in Four Acts. Six males, seven females. 
Scene, a single interior; costumes, mv^dern. Plays a 
full evening. 

THF WFAKFR SFX comedy in Three Acts. Eight males, eight 
I UC !T CAIVI^II JCA fgjjjaies. Costumes, modern ; scenery, two 
interiors. Plaj's a full evening. 

A WIFE WITHOUT A SMILE ^:::Z^ i^^'Z^^Z 

modern ; scene, a single interior. Plays a full evening. 



Sent prepaid on receipt of price by 

Salter ^. l3afier & Company 

No. 5 Hamilton Place, Boston, Massachusetts 



JA 



%\)t Willmm Wdixxtn Ctittion ]; 
of Paps 



AS Yftll I Il^F IT Comedy In Five Acts. Thirteen males, four 
AD IVV Lfllkh II females. Costumes, picturesque ; scenery, va- 
ried. Plays a full evening. 



CAHILLE 



Drama in Five Acts. Nine males, five females. Cos- 
tumes, modern ; scenery, varied. Plays a full evening. 



IMAAMiD Play in Five Acts. Thirteen males, three females. 
inuviUiUV Scenery varied ; costumes, Greek. Plays a full evening. 

MARY STUART Tragedy in Five Acts. Thirteen males, four fe- 
ITIAIVI tJllJAIll males, and supernumeraries. Costumes, of the 
period ; scenery, varied and elaborate. Plays a full evening. 

TOE MERCHANT OF VENICE Si;t?.i?e?femi?:i: SStr^, 

picturesque ; scenery varied. Plays a full evening. 

RirHFI IFII Play in Five Acts. Fifteen males, two females. Scen- 
AlVllLtLtlLrU ery elaborate ; costumes of the period. Plays a full 
evening. 

THF RIVAIS Comedy in Five Acts. Nine males, five females. 
IIII4 niTAi<^ Scenery varied; costumes of the period. Plays a 
full evening. 

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER SiTeau? £aVf'lce/ei?;r 

ried ; costumes of the period. Plays a full evening. 

TWELFTH NICHT; OR, WHAT YOD WILL llf^^.l-'u.ll::, 

three females. Costumes, picturesque ; scenery, varied. Plays a 
full evening. 



Sent prepaid on receipt of price by 

Waltn f^. TBafeer & Company 

No. 5 Hamilton Place, Boston, Massachusetts 



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